The Ministry of Sports and Recreation has come under fire from the Public Accounts Committee for filing a GH¢35.8 million claim to the Finance Ministry for 6,000 police personnel who were deployed during the 2023 All-African Games without providing any supporting documentation.
Additionally, PAC said that the Sports Ministry received a GH¢455,000 charge for the hostel utilised during the games, but no supporting documentation was submitted.
Ranking Member Samuel Atta-Mills proposed during the hearing on Monday, May 18, that in order to stop similar violations, officials in the Sports Ministry should be replaced every year.
“There are unsupported claims amounting to GH¢35.8 million for just 6,000 police officers during the African Games. GH¢35.8 million was spent in 2024 on police officers alone, yet there is no documentation to support the expenditure. How is that possible?”
“There was a time when the Ministry of Sports changed ministers almost every year. If we still cannot understand this duplication and these irregularities, then I don’t see why only the minister should be changed every year. Maybe everyone in the ministry should be changed every year while the minister stays,” he said.
Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare, Executive Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the 2023 African Games, stated that although the police had promised to produce supporting documentation for the claims, they had not done so.
“Initially, the police officers were only supposed to assist in carrying out security duties. We were even feeding them at first, but later they pulled out. Then, out of nowhere, at the end of the event, they submitted this bill.”
“I wrote to them asking them to justify such a huge amount, but they could not provide any justification. So that is how we got to this point. I was shocked to the marrow by the kind of bill they presented, and I asked them to provide a breakdown and supporting details for what they were claiming. ”he stated.
Source: newsthemegh.com