Accra-Ghana, Oct. 28, GNA – Mr. Kobena Mensah Woyome Member of Parliament (MP) for South Tongu, on Wednesday eulogized the late Prince Amartey, for his contribution towards the development of boxing in Ghana.
Speaking in Parliament, the ranking member- Youth and Sports, Culture and Chieftaincy Committees called on government to give the family the needed support for a befitting burial for the fallen hero.
The late Prince Amartey was born on 25th June, 1944 in Ho, in the Volta Region to Mr. Quarshie Amartey, a native of big Ada and Madam Janet Agripa of Aduvivi Clan from Ho Hliha both deceased.
The late Amartey had his basic and secondary education in Ho and enrolled in the Ghana Armed Forces in the early1960s and served to the rank of a Corporal till his premature retirement in the mid-1970s.
As a young bubbling energetic man, Prince had passion for sports and horned his skills in the pugilist game.
His passion, commitment and excellent displays endeared him to the handlers of the national amateur boxing team, the Black Bombers and was invited to join greats like Clement Ike Quartey {Snr}, Eddie Blay {Snr}, Joe Darkey, Dodoo Wellington, Jojo Myles, Thomas Arimi, Alhassan Braimah, Cassie Aryee, Sammy Abbey, Ekow Krane, Amos Ajao, Sulley Shitttu, Aaron Papoola among others to form a formidable team to represent Ghana at major international competitions [Africa, commonwealth and Olympic games] an era Ghana was adjudged best boxing nation in the commonwealth with regards to laurels and medals won.
He started his boxing carrier at the light middleweight division, where he participated in the maiden All African Games in 1965 in Congo-Brazzaville and won a gold medal, and also won bronze at the 1968 games in Dakar-Senegal. He was part of Ghana’s team to the 1966 and 1970 commonwealth games in Kingston-Jamaica and Edinburg in Scotland respectively but didn’t win a medal, lost his opening bout to Patrick Doherty of Northern Ireland at the 1970 games.
The late Amartey also participated in the World Armed Forces Games in 1971 Rotterdam – Netherlands where he moved up as middleweight. Former Youth and Sports Minister, His Excellency Major {Rtd} Amarkai Amarterfio and late former President Flt Lt JJ Rawlings served as the managers of the Armed forces boxing team then.
He won a bronze medal for Ghana in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich-Germany which represented the country’s 3rd medal at the global sports meet. His record stood for 20years before the Olympic football team [Black Meteors] replicated it with another bronze in 1992 in Barcelona –Spain and Featherweight Samuel Takyi winning bronze at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo- Japan in individual sports for the nation.
“Despite the significant achievement of Prince Amartey towards boxing in Ghana, he lived a miserable life and took up menial jobs just to survive after he left the Ghana Army in 1974 due to health challenges. This is a sad situation indeed. Although there were some interventions by the Ghana Armed Forces and Ho based social club 50 that helped his situation, these were still not enough for a person who fought to raise the flags of Ghana high.
“Mr. Speaker, as a country we must begin to name and reward our heroes when they are alive and ensure they have a peaceful and joyful end. As an Amateur, it is a known fact that they don’t earn much to live on after retirement from the game. It is in this regard that the State through the Ministry of Youth and Sports must put together a package to cater for their needs. The trend of neglecting all who have fought for this country at a point in time particularly amateur boxers must surely end,” he said.
Ex Corporal Prince Amartey died on Friday, September 23, 2022 at age 78 and will be laid to rest on October 28, 2022 at the new Military Cemetery Burma Camp.
