The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 2023 African Games, Dr Kwaku Ofosu-Asare, has disclosed that the Sports Ministry handled financial matters during the games despite the LOC’s mandate to manage the finances.

According to him, the financial management of the African Games, including funds for operations, has historically been handled by the LOC. However, the Sports Ministry, during the tenure of Mustapha Ussif, took over financial control.

He noted that this prompted the LOC to petition the African Union (AU) to restore its authority over the finances, but the ministry at the time refused.

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During a sitting with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sports to present a report on the games, Dr Ofosu-Asare indicated that the situation affected their operations in some ways.

“From the history of the African Games, the LOC was given the autonomy to run the games, but the ministry handled most of the money. I don’t know why… We even petitioned, and the African Union came in, and they said that should be the case, but if that’s what Ghana wants to do, they could not do much.

“We had the LOC account, but everything was controlled by the ministry and not us. Absolutely [I wasn’t in control of the funds]. The Ministry facilitated a lot of these things. I was the administrative head of the LOC, and I facilitated a lot of the administrative things, and everything the LOC wanted went through the Ministry of Youth and Sports at that time,” he said.

Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing into the alleged overspending of public funds during the games, with efforts underway to establish responsibility and bring those found culpable to book.

SB/JKB

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