Budget Review: Government does not have sports at heart - Woyome

A ranking member on the committee for Youth and Sports, Kobena Mensah Woyome, has disclosed that the mid-year review read on the floor of parliament on Thursday which ignored the ailing sports sector is a clear indication that the ruling NPP government does not have sports at heart.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in his address to parliament did not give any details on what the government intends to do to support the sports industry which has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

In an exclusive interview with Ghanaweb, Hon. Kobena Mensah Wisdom Woyome chastised the government for neglecting the sports industry in its review. He was worried that government did not include the preparation of the 2023 All African Games in its plans.

“We’ve not heard anything said about sports and we are very much aware of allocations made to the ministry and in it they even have budgets that they are following up on and strategies to ensure that we are effectively hosting the All African Games in 2023,” the South Tongu MP said.

“We are aware that the COVID has hit the industry somewhat hard and there are key people in the industry who are core investors that defiantly will need some level of support. All these have been running and I thought there will be some support for the industry in this particular submission, Hon. Woyome exclusively told Ghanaweb.

He added, “We are aware by October the leagues will be coming back, people have spent so much and so how do we go forward?

Earlier this month, the GFA and the National Sports Authority announced that they had reached an agreement with the National Youth Agency to pay struggling athletes a stipend of 500 cedis each month for the next six month to alleviate some of the hardships brought about by the pandemic. But the MP alleged that there were discrepancies with the disbursement of the Youth in Employment Funds.

“We are aware even the YEA funds that are supposed to go to some athletes, the disbursement process and criteria is so problematic. We thought there will be some mention of it for us to appreciate that this government really has the sports industry at heart. It’s so sad and clearly they do not have sports in the scheme of strategies to bring back the entertainment, the business and all that is required for it, the ranking member on the committee for Youth and Sports concluded.

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