Ghana spent $4.5m on accreditation badges at African Games – Woyome
Apart from the claims that Ghana spent $15 million to feed athletes at the African Games in Accra, another $4.5 million was said to have been expended on accreditation badges.
Mr Kobena Mensah Woyome, the chairman of Parliament’s Select Committee for Youth, Sports, and Tourism, who made the claims in an interview with Joy News, citing the report from the Games Local Organising Committee, said as much as $15 million was spent on feeding athletes during the Games, he also added that an amount of $4.5 million was spent on accreditation badges.
Mr Woyome said the amount of $15 million was used to feed 2,644 athletes that participated in the 18-day event.
However information on the Games website says 5000 athletes and coaches from 55 African countries participated in 29 sports codes.
“You are spending $245 million, and out of that, we got to know that a whopping amount of $15 million was used to feed athletes for 18 days,” Woyome stated.
Mr Woyome is calling for an investigation to determine the actual number of athletes who took part in the Games.
“We need to know how many athletes actually made it. How many actually got registered, and how many actually came to participate in the Games,” he said.
He is also demanding to know the cost of the Games management system.
Mr Woyome further demanded to know the process journalists went through to be registered and given accreditation.
“Even the accreditation process. And then your tag that is given, the quality that is given. We didn’t see any of these. How much was paid? We were told they paid $4.5 million for that. What went into that?” he asked.
The MP said he has also written to Atos for an answer.
Ghana hosted the 13th African Games in Accra for three weeks. The country reportedly spent $245 million to host the Games.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi