{"id":120109,"date":"2026-05-26T10:09:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120109"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:09:49","slug":"african-games-2023-former-sports-minister-and-loc-chairman-ordered-by-auditor-general-to-refund-ghc-579m-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120109","title":{"rendered":"African Games 2023: Former Sports Minister and LOC Chairman ordered by Auditor-General to refund GHC 579m"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 33 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>The Auditor-General has recommended recovery of GHC 579 million from three top former officials at the heart of Ghana\u2019s organisation of the 13th Africa Games.<\/p>\n<p>A forensic audit which was commissioned by President Mahama last year revealed widespread cost inflation, irregular payments, and unsupported expenditure across contracts linked to the event.<\/p>\n<p>Though the Auditor-General did make any criminal findings, it recommended that former Minister of and Sports, <strong>Mustapha Ussif<\/strong>, former Chief Director, <strong>William Kartey<\/strong>, and former Local Organising Committee (LOC) Chairman, <strong>Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare<\/strong> be made to refund the money to the state.<\/p>\n<p>In one instance, the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, <strong>Prof. Amin Alhassan<\/strong>, is also named in relation to a training contract.<\/p>\n<p>Across all flagged transactions, auditors have recommended the recovery of an estimated <strong>GHC 579,114,352.24<\/strong>, alongside <strong>$44,354,881.77<\/strong> and <strong>\u20ac629,070<\/strong>, citing overpricing, unjustified payments, undelivered goods, and contractual variances.<\/p>\n<p>The findings cut across catering, accommodation, transport, equipment procurement, infrastructure, and administrative spending, painting a picture of systemic cost inflation during Ghana\u2019s hosting of the continental multi-sport event.<\/p>\n<p>In virtually every flagged transaction, auditors repeatedly recommend recovery from the same three key figures:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mustapha Ussif (former Minister of Youth and Sports)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>William Kartey (former Chief Director)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare (former LOC Chairman)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Their names appear in connection with all major cost centres, including catering, logistics, accommodation, equipment procurement, vehicle hiring, branding, infrastructure works, and sponsorship management.<\/p>\n<p>In one case involving broadcast training, <strong>Prof. Amin Alhassan<\/strong> is also cited alongside the trio.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Breakdown of irregularities as cited by the Auditor-General:<\/h3>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Catering irregularities \u2013 US$2.83 million and GHC 33.9 million<\/h4>\n<p>Auditors flagged <strong>$2,826,540 (GHC33,918,480)<\/strong> in non-feeding costs embedded within a catering contract, including transport, utilities, staffing, infrastructure, and administration\u2014without supporting documentation or justification.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Anti-doping overpricing \u2013 \u20ac572,040 and GHC 8.01 million<\/h4>\n<p>A contract for anti-doping tests was found to be significantly above benchmark WADA laboratory rates, creating an overpricing gap of <strong>\u20ac572,040 (GHC 8,008,560)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Accommodation inflation \u2013 $840,000 and GHC10.08 million<\/h4>\n<p>Hotel rooms were reportedly charged at <strong>$150 per night<\/strong>, despite market rates ranging between $50 and $70, resulting in an inflated component of <strong>$840,000 (GHC10,080,000)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sports equipment overpricing \u2013 $322,697 and GHC 3.87 million<\/h4>\n<p>Boxing, triathlon, hockey, and arm wrestling equipment contracts exceeded benchmark prices, with total variance estimated at <strong>$322,697.28 (GHC3,872,367.36)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transport and logistics \u2013 over GHC30 million flagged in multiple layers<\/h4>\n<p>Vehicle-related contracts form one of the largest clusters of irregularities:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Branding and de-branding: <strong>GHC2,003,121.75<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Vehicle hiring overpricing: <strong>GHC13,120,226.21<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Over-invoicing adjustment: <strong>GHC2,201,514.00<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Excess rental charges: <strong>GHC239,520.00<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Together, these reflect a broader pattern of inflated logistics expenditure under JDK Travel &#038; Tours contracts.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Undelivered and unaccounted equipment \u2013 $374,462 and GHC4.49 million<\/h4>\n<p>Auditors also flagged payments for sports equipment that were either not delivered or lacked specification, resulting in an overpayment of <strong>$374,462.39 (GHC4,493,548.68)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unrelated LOC payments \u2013 GHC15.09 million<\/h4>\n<p>A further <strong>GHC15,093,666<\/strong> was identified as unrelated to the Games, including payments routed to Black Stars technical staff and other non-Games activities.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Infrastructure defects \u2013 GHC12 million<\/h4>\n<p>Construction defects across key venues, including the Aquatic Centre and Legon Stadium, are estimated to require <strong>at least GHC12 million<\/strong> in rectification works.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Major EPC contract irregularities \u2013 $38.99 million and GHC467.89 million<\/h4>\n<p>The most significant anomaly relates to engineering and construction contracts for the Borteyman Sports Complex, University of Ghana Stadium, and Legon Sports Village.<\/p>\n<p>Auditors flagged:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Unjustified variations<\/li>\n<li>Inflated claims<\/li>\n<li>Scope reductions and additions outside contract discipline<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Total irregular claims in this category stand at <strong>$38,991,182.10 (GHC467,894,185.20)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inflated works contracts \u2013 GHC5.40 million<\/h4>\n<p>Three single-source infrastructure contracts were found to be overpriced due to lack of proper price-reasonableness assessments.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The grand picture: a financial trail under scrutiny<\/h3>\n<p>When aggregated, the audit\u2019s recovery recommendations point to the following totals:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>GHC579,114,352.24<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>$44,354,881.77<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u20ac 629,070<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These figures represent what auditors describe as unjustified expenditure, overpricing, undelivered goods, and contractual deviations across the entire Games delivery chain.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"120109\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                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Games.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1956,18243,137,1900,5051,14143,10,9,1957,18244],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athletics","category-dr-kwaku-ofosu-asare","category-football","category-hp-news-2","category-hp-sports-1","category-mustapha-ussif","category-politics","category-popular","category-tennis","category-william-kartey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}