Sports head at Pure FM in Kumasi,Bright Kankam Boadu, has raised concerns about the wisdom of investing $195 million in new sporting infrastructure, given the apparent challenges in maintaining existing facilities.
Responding to revelations by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, regarding the expenditure of over $195 million on facilities for the 13th African Games, Kankam Boadu questioned the sustainability of these new facilities post-event.
He expressed bewilderment over the country’s ability to allocate such a significant amount to constructing new facilities while struggling to cover basic operational costs like electricity for existing infrastructure.
“We don’t know what we are doing in this country. We were able to spend $195 million on facilities for the African Games but can’t pay ECG. After the construction of the facility, are we going to power them with lanterns? It’s as if we are sick.”
“Parliament’s power was disconnected over debt. Meanwhile, this same Parliament approves funds for the purchase of chairs and cars. This country, those at the top don’t care about those down there,” he said.
At a ministerial press briefing on Monday, March 4, 2024, sports minister Mustapha Ussif provided a breakdown of the expenditure.
According to Mustapha Ussif, “the total contract sum of the facility approved by parliament for the games amounted to $195,255,153 million.”
Borteyman Sports Complex, built by Contractor Construction UK, had a total cost of $145,086,057.54.
Meanwhile, the University of Ghana Stadium and Rugby Stadium had a combined cost of $34,102,135, and the Games Village, constructed by Mawums Ltd, amounted to $16,066,961.20 in expenses.
Ace sports journalist Bright Kankam Boadu has asserted that the Director-General of the National Sports Authority, Professor Peter Twumasi, would face imprisonment if the government were truly committed to combating corruption and the misuse of public funds.
Kankam Boadu made these remarks during an interview on Pure FM, where he criticised Professor Twumasi for incompetence and financial mismanagement.
He stated that both Professor Twumasi and Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif lack a clear plan or vision for sports development, implying that their leadership is ineffective and unreliable.
“He is the biggest joker. If Ghana was a proper country, he would be in jail by now. Professor Twumasi would be in prison if we were a serious country. To date, we still cannot find the pick-up vehicle. That man has nothing to offer. He and the sports minister have nothing good to offer Ghanaians.”.
Professor Twumasi faced criticism following his testimony before the Public Accounts Committee, where he was reprimanded by the committee chairman for disregarding directives from the Minister of Youth and Sports.
The chairman raised concerns about the transfer status of Tieku Alexander, the Central Regional Director of the NSA, who was supposed to relocate from Cape Coast to the Eastern Region but failed to comply.
In response, Minister Mustapha Ussif explained that he ordered Tieku’s transfer after the latter refused to grant access to a team assigned to repair the stadium grass in Cape Coast.
“I got an expert pitch maintenance officer, and then I made a recommendation to the director general that the director general should ensure that once that Independence Day celebration is done, we get more hands in addition to the original people who are maintaining the pitch so that we can put the pitch in shape for the match to be able to take place,” the minister told the committee.
He stated that the pitch maintenance expert from Right to Dream Academy arrived at Cape Coast to carry out his duty but was denied access by the regional director despite his intervention in the matter.
“The young man came to Cape Coast and when he went to the regional director, the regional director said that he had not received instructions from the director general and because of that, he wouldn’t allow the man to go there.
“Then I personally called him, and I said, Listen, I am the Minister for Sports. I directed the director general to get this young man to help those who are already working there because I’ve identified him as a very good person.
“Then I called the director general to say I had called your regional director. the young man is there, so make sure that he gives him access to support them and put the place in shape because in the next two weeks we will be playing a match.
“All the instructions I gave, they did not take those instructions. Then it became a very big problem and we had to reschedule the match to Kumasi,” he said.
The minister explained that he later called for a meeting where he issued the instructions for Mr Tieku’s transfer in response to the “disrespect” of disobeying his instructions.
“I gave instructions and those instructions were not taken,” he added.
Mr. Tieku defended himself by pointing out a discrepancy in the transfer letter he received. While the heading indicated a transfer to the head office, the body of the letter stated relocation to the Eastern Region. He sought clarification from the director general, who instructed him to remain in Cape Coast.
Although Mr. Tieku acknowledged signing the transfer letter, Professor Twumasi informed the committee that he instructed the regional director to stay in Cape Coast due to upcoming matches scheduled to be played there.
“I asked him to support the home matches that we were playing there because it was very critical. We needed to honour those home matches and at the time it required a lot of attention and somebody very much experienced until we rectified the issue that he raised,” he justified.
Mr. Twumasi characterised the situation as a complete misunderstanding rather than a matter of disrespect towards the minister.
Following further questioning of the NSA director general, the committee chairman concluded that, despite issuing Mr. Tieku’s transfer letter, Prof. Twumasi had bypassed the minister’s instructions. He had instructed the regional director to remain on Cape Coast.
“You are not actually respecting the minister at all; you are actually undermining the minister. It is not good. No, Mr Twumasi it is not good,” the chairman said.
While noting the similar occurrences with Mr Twumasi’s appearances before the committee, the chairman directed that Mr Tieku move to the Eastern Region with immediate effect in fulfilment of the transfer letter.
