Sports Ministry blows GHC 429 m on 10,000 'ghost' names

The Ministry of Youth & Sports has allegedly spent a whopping GHC of 429 million on undocumented beneficiaries under the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (now Youth Entrepreneurial Agency) in 2013.

Responding to questions from members of the Public Accounts Committee, the Ministry headed by Nii Lantey Vanderpauye and his Deputy Vincent Oppong Asamoah admitted that their outfit contracted some sixteen agencies and service providers to support some 10,000 deprived youth across the country but failed to provide evidence to buttress their claims.

The Committee headed by Member of Parliament for Dormaa Central, Mr. Kwaku Agyaman Manu and other members expressed shocked at what they described as the Ministry’s sluggishness in handling its finances.

The disclosure was made on Tuesday as the committee was probing issues in the Auditor-General report of the Ministry for the year ending 2013. The report stated that the Ministry through GYEEDA blew a whooping amount of Ghc429m on some Ghanaians who were not accounted for during the auditing exercise.

Mr Vanderpuije who took charge of the Ministry barely a month ago explained, “Because I wasn't at post at the time of the audit, I am not in a better position to answer your query. I humbly suggest that you ask my Deputy Minister who has been at post far longer than I have".

Speaking on the same issue, Mr. Vincent Oppong Asamoah said "there are documents to the effect that the amount under question (ghc429m) was doled out to 16 service providers and other agencies to support some deprived Ghanaians, they are no proper documents as to who they doled out the cash to the beneficiaries ".

When Vice Chairman of the Committee and Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Mr. Atta Akyea asked the Deputy Minister said what efforts his outfit was making to account for the money, he said, "Mr. Chairman, we have prosecuted some of our Auditors on this issue however, we have not made enough progress in refunding the money. The issue is at under intense investigation at the Economic and Organized Crime Organization (EOCO). We have high hopes in the verdict of the committee. "

Member of Parliament for Atwima-Mponua and also a member on the committee, Mr. Isaac Kwesi Asiamah, berated the method deployed by the Minister in handling the issue. He said, "it is rather unfortunate that for the past three years that the issue of GYEEDA had lingered in the country, the ministry has not been able to devise means to recoup the money for the state. This committee must be taken seriously."

Mr. Kwahu Agyaman Manu gave the Minister and his deputy a 3 -day ultimatum to provide the list of the 10,000 purported beneficiaries.