In our previous article, we gave you a list of 5 active Ghanaian footballers whose Black Stars careers might be over after being out of the national team for a minimum of three years.
Today, we look at the childhood sports of all the men who have occupied Ghana's presidency since the beginning of the 4th republic in 1993.
Children and their preference for a particular sport is mostly influenced by their community or the school they find themselves in.
Some children after falling in love with a particular sport tend to pursue it as a career with the needed talents but others abandon it because of their parents.
Here is a list of Ghana's 4th Republican presidents and their childhood sports:
Born June 22, 1947, the late president of the 4th Republic of Ghana is best remembered for promoting boxing in Ghana and helping nurture several talents across the country.
Rawlings according to his son Kimathi had hoped in Ghanaian boxers because they had a strong disciplined mind to become great.
Ghana's legendary boxer Azumah Nelson has on countless occasions credited the successes he archived in his career to the late Jerry John Rawlings who was also an amateur boxer.
Though JJ Rawlings couldn't pursue his boxing career, he made sure that other young talents would get all the needed support from the State to be useful.
During his reign, Ghana won three world titles through Azumah Nelson, Ike Bazooka Quartey, and the late Alfred Kotey.
There isn't much to be said about the footballing career of Ghana's second president in the 4th Republic aside being in the school team during his days in Prempeh Colleague in Kumasi.
However, John Agyekum Kufuor was an established football administrator before occupying the high office in Ghana.
As a football administrator, former President John Agyekum Kufuor was the Chief Executive Officer of Asante Kotoko where he won a lot of local titles before he became Ghana's leader in 2001.
His love for football also made him commit more resources to help the Black Stars qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in Ghana's footballing history in 2006.
Kufuor renovated the Accra Sports Stadium and the Baba Yara Stadium as well as built the Essipong and Tamale stadium in 2008 to host the CAN 2008.
John Evans Atta-Mills - Hockey
The late former President was a professional hockey player but also worked as a football administrator for giants Accra Hearts of Oak.
He played for both the hockey teams of Achimota College during his Secondary School education and the University of Ghana, Legon in his tertiary days.
As a State Man, Atta-Mills changed the face of Ghana hockey by supporting the construction of the first ever water-based Astro-turf hockey pitch in 1999, and an ultra-modern world-class National Hockey Stadium which was built in 2009.
He is also a founding member of the Veterans Hockey team in Accra which was established in 1972.
Just like John Agyekum Kufuor, John Dramani Mahama was also a talented footballer but his father Emmanuel Adama reportedly made him ditch football to focus more on his education.
Though John Mahama couldn't pursue a career in football, his son Sharaf continues from where his father left off to become a professional footballer.
Sharaf Mahama has played for several clubs in Eurpe inclduing Tempo Overijse, KV Mechelen, Charleroi and Rostocker FC.
As President, John Mahama's love for football was seen through the government's sports policies.
He built the Cape Coast Sports Stadium to ease the pressure of the four existing stadiums in Ghana. Mahama also built Ghana's only boxing arena in Bukoum to promote the sport which sold Ghana to the world after football.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo - boxing
The current president is a football fan but his love for boxing precedes every sport in the world.
Young Akufo-Addo played football in his high school days and was in the University of Ghana, Legon's hockey team together with the late John Evans Atta-Mills.
Akufo-Addo was an all-around athlete amongst all the presidents we have seen in the 4th Republic.
As the president, Akufo-Addo has invested heavily in sports infrastructure with the building of the multi-purpose sports complex in all the 16 regions in Ghana.
He will also be the 4th president to taste a FIFA World Cup after Kufuor, Mills, and Mahama.
Author: Joel Eshun
Also, watch this week's episode of the GhanaWeb Sports Debate in the post below:
A photo of Ghana's 4th Republican presidents