Feature: Rumble in the Jungle: Nii Lante vs Asiamah

There is an emerging dispute between the incoming sports minister and his predecessor

A dispute has risen concerning the budget that Ghana took to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon between the former minister Nii Lantey and minister designate for sports Isaac Asiamah.

The Sports Minister-designate, Honourable Isaac Asiamah, said on the floor of the Appointment Committee of Parliament on Tuesday that the Black Stars had a budget of $4.4 million for the Gabon tournament, signed by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. He however said that there was a “slash down of 50%” due to the “intervention” of the incoming government.

He said that the initial budget stipulated that the Black Stars would be paid $10,000 per win in the Group phase, $10,000 for a win in the quarter final, $12,000 for a semi final win, $12,000 for a third place playoff win and $15,000 for a grand final win. “On the 10th of January, this (budget) was brought to the transitional team,” he confirmed. “These figures came from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. This was prepared by the previous government.”

Mr Asiamah said that his administration held talks and reduced these amounts, saying that the Black Stars were paid $15,000 each for qualifying out of their group, $6000 each for winning the quarter final against the DRC and nothing afterwards. “The bonus structure alone (from the initial budget) was about $3.1 million and we saved about about $1.5 million,” he boasted.

Meanwhile, the immediate-past Minister for Youth and Sports, Honourable Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has accused Honourable Asiamah of lying under oath, saying the the budget figure he mentioned as having been prepared by the previous administration is false.

The Member of Parliament for Odododiodio claimed the Ghana Football Association had prepared an initial budget which his Ministry reviewed, arriving at a final budget of $3.3 million.
“I negotiated and brought it (winning bonus) down to $8000 per match and maintained that it is the amount to be used throughout the tournament, from the first match to the final,” Honourable Vanderpuye told Joy News.

“Either he (Honourable Asiamah) was confused or he was not speaking the truth. I’ll pursue this; I have a copy of my budget which I will send to the chairman of the Appointments Committee. If he (Honourable Asiamah) has lied under oath, we will pursue this.”