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02.12.2015 Health

Make Health Walk(mtn Walka-thon) A Regular Feature -- Ahmed Iddrisu

By Ransford Antwi
MTN CEOMTN CEO
02.12.2015 LISTEN

Mr. Iddrisu Bediako Ahmed, the Upper West Regional Director of the National Sports Authority (NSA) has called on MTN and its partners to make the annual health walk programme(MTN Walka-thon) a more regular feature on their calendar in view of the ample benefits that the exercise brings to Ghanaians.

Mr. Ahmed, popularly known in sports circles as “ Polo” , made the call at the closing session of the 4th annual savanna festival, dubbed, “ MTN - SavanaFest, 2015”, held at Wa, the Upper West Regional capital.

He explained that, in view of the benefits the event brings to participants to improve their health status and contribute positively to community and national development, through increased productivity, the organizers would be doing a lot more good, if the programme was held monthly or quarterly.

“ I believe MTN and its partners have the ability and capacity to organize the event on a more regular basis than the current yearly activity, in order to make a more positive impact on the people and the nation’s economy,” Polo stated.

The Regional NSA Boss was however, full of praise for MTN for championing a worthy cause and urged other corporate institutions to lend support to make the programme more impactful, for the growth and developing of Ghana and its people.

Let’s make the slogan, “A healthy people make a wealthy nation” more practicable and achievable by contributing our widows’ mite to augment the efforts of MTN, he concluded.

People from all walks of life poured out in their numbers, early Saturday morning, to walk through some principal streets of Wa, and later went through some aerobics to exercise their muscles to be in good shape for healthy living.

A cross section of the participants interviewed, commended MTN for bringing some life into their lives by this annual event and urged them (MTN and other stakeholders) to keep up the spirit.

Some of them testified that, since the inception of the event, 4years ago, they have developed the habit of exercising regularly to improve their health conditions and are contributing positively to societal progress.

“ I used to pick Taxis to and from my shop which is about 800 meters away from my home, but for the past one year, I have been doing this on foot, thanks to MTN Walka-thon programme! I have saved a lot of money to improve my business and I feel smarter now, “said an obese female trader who spoke on anonymity.

Most student participants remarked that the exercise has greatly improved their health status, felt sharper, thought smarter and these have enhanced their academic and extra circular performances.

Participants were generally of the view that though a worthy and a laudable initiative, MTN could still do better by providing enough souvenirs to motivate more people to show and sustain interest in the programme.

MTN Walka-thon is one of three major activities organized annually by MTN to celebrate the loyalty of the people in the savana region of Ghana, for their unflinching loyalty to the company, hence the tag, “ MTN – Savana Fest”.

The month long celebration was crowned with the Wa edition of the inter – community soccer gala competition which was won by the Dokpong community.

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