Accra Sports Stadium. May 9, 2001. 5:30pm.
Hearts of Oak had just beaten Asante Kotoko 2-1. A disputed goal. Plastic chairs thrown. Tear gas fired. Then the stampede. 127 Ghanaians never made it home.

25 years later, we still call it “The May 9th Disaster.” We hold memorials. We wear black armbands. We tweet “Never Again.” But as a son of Ghana who was was young at the time, I must ask: Have we learned, or are we just remembering?

THE FACTS WE CANNOT FORGET

On that Wednesday evening, over 40,000 fans packed a stadium built for 25,000. When Kotoko fans, angry at a referee’s decision, ripped seats and threw them onto the pitch, police responded with tear gas into a closed stand. The gates were locked. The exit was narrow. The panic was instant.
127 dead — men, women, children. The youngest was 11-year-old Yaa Comfort from Suame.
150+ injured, broken limbs, trauma, asthma attacks from gas. Thousands scarred — fans who still can’t watch a derby without anxiety.
The Okudzeto Commission found it was preventable. Poor crowd control. Over-ticketing. Lack of emergency exits. Zero medical plan.

127 lives for 3 points. That is Ghana’s shame.

WHAT CHANGED AFTER MAY 9TH?
To be fair, some things did:

  1. All-seater stadiums– Accra and Kumasi banned “popular stand” concrete slabs
  2. Emergency drills – NSA now trains stewards before big games
  3. The May 9th Fund– Set up for victims’ families, though many say disbursement stalled

But here’s what didn’t change, and it should worry every Kotoko and Hearts fan:

  1. We Still Overcrowd
    Go to Baba Yara for a Kotoko vs Hearts game today. Tickets say 40,000. Eyes say 55,000. Officials still “help” extra fans in. We learned nothing about greed vs capacity.
  2. We Still Have One Exit Mentality
    Many Division One and regional stadiums still have only one main gate. In panic, one gate becomes a death trap. Visit Tamale Aliu Mahama Stadium on a RTU Or Karela match day. Ask yourself: If tear gas, where do these numbers run?
  3. We Still Blame Fans First
    2001: “Kotoko fans were hooligans.” 2026: “Hohoe United fans are hooligans.” We never ask: Why were armed police with tear gas the first response to plastic chairs? Crowd control is a science. Ghana treats it like a war.

THE TWO CLUBS UNITED IN GRIEF, DIVIDED IN RESPONSIBILITY
Here’s the beautiful pain of May 9th: Hearts and Kotoko fans died together.
They wore different jerseys but held each other’s hands in the stampede. They were buried in the same week. Their families cry on the same day.

Yet 25 years later, Hearts and Kotoko have no joint safety charter. No annual joint safety audit of stadiums. No combined fan education program.

Rivals on the pitch must be partners in safety. Because the next May 9th, God forbid won’t check if you wear rainbow or red.

SO WHAT MUST WE DO BEFORE THE 26TH ANNIVERSARY? FOUR(4) NON-NEGOTIABLES

  1. To the NSA & GFA: Publish The Safety Audit
    Every year before the Super Clash, publish: _“How many tickets printed? How many stewards per 1,000 fans? Where are the 8 emergency exits?” If you can publish betting odds, you can publish safety odds.
  2. To GPL Clubs: Train Fans, Don’t Just Sell To Them
    Hearts, Kotoko, RTU,Karela etc – use 5 minutes before kickoff for a “safety video” like airlines do. “In case of emergency, walk, don’t run. Know your nearest exit.”_ A life is worth 5 minutes of “boring” content.
  3. To Police: Tear Gas Is Not Crowd Control
    CAF banned tear gas in stadiums for a reason. Use trained stewards, barriers, and dialogue first. A plastic chair is not worth a child’s lungs.
  4. To Us, The Fans: We Are Our Brothers’ Keeper
    Stop selling your ticket + jumping the wall to “help” a brother in. That extra body could be the one that blocks the exit. Stop throwing things. Your anger is valid. Throwing a bottle is not.

TO THE 127: WE OWE YOU MORE THAN A MINUTE’S SILENCE
We owe you a Ghana where no one dies for football again. We owe Yaa Comfort, 11, a stadium where 11-year-olds are safe.
We owe Razak, 24, who left work early to watch his Phobians, a system that values his life over gate fees.
We owe the Kotoko fan who died in a Hearts jersey because someone gave it to him to escape — a country where humanity beats rivalry.
This May 9th, don’t just post “Rest in Peace.”
Ask your DCE: “Is our local stadium safe?”
Ask your MP: “When was the last safety audit?”
Ask your club chairman: “What’s your emergency plan?”

Because “Never Again” is not a hashtag. It’s a policy.
May the souls of the 127 rest in perfect peace. May we be worthy of their memory.

Nyame nfa wɔn kra nsie. God keep their souls.

By: Salifu Haruna
[email protected]
WhatsApp0247620454

ABOUT THE WRITER:
Is a Youth Activist from Tamale and a lifelong Ghana football fan. He believes the best way to honor the dead is to protect the living.