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The 13th African Games were held in February and March but the aftermath has been marred by allegations of bloated budgets.
This follows the Sports Minister’s revelation that in excess of $3.5 million was spent on the coverage of the 2023 African Games.
Mustapha Ussif said the amount was paid to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) as the official broadcaster for the Games.
Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate African Games spending
However, the Director General of the GBC, Prof. Amin Alhassan, contradicted the Minister after saying his outfit's total benefit from the coverage was $105,000, rather than the “excess of $3 million” mentioned by the Sports Minister.
Meanwhile, Kobena Woyome has also claimed that the government of Ghana spent a whopping $4.5 million on the game management system and accreditation tags during the African Games.
Woyome, who is a Ranking Member on the Youth, Sports and Culture Committee of Parliament, made the allegation in an interview with Joy Sports.
In light of all these allegations, the convener for the Forum for Accountable Governance, Kwame Owusu Danso, has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the spending that went into the Games.
“To the extent that I told you I have so much confidence in the Office of the Special Prosecutor, we’re all law-abiding citizens and so, if investigations are conducted and properly so done and the outcome is that there are no corruption-related matters inherent in the organisation of the All African Games,” he said, as quoted by Citinewsroom.
“I think the matter would have been brought to bed. And so, I would not further query or ask questions about it. At least, my conscience will be satisfied that I have done the Lord’s duty for the good people of this country,” he added.