{"id":120450,"date":"2026-05-26T10:48:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120450"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:48:36","slug":"auditor-general-recommends-sanctions-for-ussif-dr-ofosu-asare-and-kartey-over-ghc-726m-administrative-lapses-procurement-breaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120450","title":{"rendered":"Auditor-General recommends sanctions for Ussif, Dr Ofosu-Asare and Kartey over GHC 726m administrative lapses, procurement breaches"},"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>4 Minute, 14 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>The Auditor-General has recommended sanctions against former senior officials of the Ministry of Sports and the Local Organising Committee (LOC), after uncovering what it describes as deep-rooted procurement breaches, weak financial controls, and unexplained expenditures.<\/p>\n<p>At the centre of the report are former Sports Minister <strong>Mustapha Ussif<\/strong>, former Chief Director <strong>William Kartey<\/strong>, and former LOC Chairman <strong>Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare<\/strong>, who are repeatedly named as the key officials to be sanctioned under <strong>Section 92 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), as amended<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In total, the administrative irregularities flagged in the report amount to approximately <strong>GHC1.15 billion (GHC1,149,809,221.50)<\/strong>, alongside <strong>USD 5.2 million<\/strong> in revenue-related losses and cash control breaches.<\/p>\n<p>The audit concludes that the irregularities were not isolated, but systemic\u2014spanning contract design, procurement approvals, payment structures, cash management, and post-contract accountability.<\/p>\n<p>The strongest sanction recommendations consistently target:<\/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, MOYS)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare (former LOC Chairman)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They are cited in multiple breaches, including:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Uncompetitive procurement approvals<\/li>\n<li>Single-source contract justifications<\/li>\n<li>Weak or absent price benchmarking<\/li>\n<li>Poor contract structuring and oversight failures<\/li>\n<li>Failure to enforce procurement compliance systems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition, <strong>Prof. Amin Alhassan (Director-General, GBC)<\/strong> is also recommended for sanctions or liability in relation to broadcast procurement irregularities and staff deployment issues.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Breakdown of key administrative irregularities<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC18.9 million: Unqualified contractor engagement<\/h3>\n<p>The audit found that <strong>JDK Travel &#038; Tours<\/strong>, a travel agency without accommodation licensing, was used for hotel services under questionable arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>Auditors also could not independently verify listed hotel partners.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC336.63 million: Fixed payments for variable services<\/h3>\n<p>Fourteen contracts\u2014including catering, accommodation, transport, and anti-doping services\u2014were structured as fixed lump sums without usage verification systems such as:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rooming lists<\/li>\n<li>Meal registers<\/li>\n<li>Passenger manifests<\/li>\n<li>Test documentation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This meant <strong>GHC336.63 million<\/strong> was paid without evidence of actual consumption.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GH\u00a238.82 million: Sports equipment contract misalignment<\/h3>\n<p>Equipment not supplied due to schedule changes was still paid for, with no contract adjustment or formal variation orders.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GH\u00a2150.6 million: Related-party contract exposure<\/h3>\n<p>A major red flag emerged around <strong>JDK Travel &#038; Tours, Delovely Co. Ltd, and Jorninas Co. Ltd<\/strong>, all linked to a single beneficial owner.<\/p>\n<p>The contracts covered:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Transport and logistics<\/li>\n<li>Ticketing<\/li>\n<li>Accommodation<\/li>\n<li>Sports equipment and medals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Total exposure: <strong>GHC150.62 million<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC55.77 million: Unexplained contract costs<\/h3>\n<p>Contracts were executed without itemised pricing or defined scopes, making audit verification impossible.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC20.37 million: Cash withdrawals outside GIFMIS<\/h3>\n<p>Large cash withdrawals were made without supporting documentation or system traceability, bypassing Ghana\u2019s <strong>GIFMIS financial controls<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">$247,194: Weak cash reconciliation<\/h3>\n<p>Cash received from participating countries was not fully lodged, with <strong>$247,194<\/strong> unaccounted for in proper banking records.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC27.23 million: Unaccounted merchandise revenue<\/h3>\n<p>Sales of official Games merchandise lacked inventory logs and revenue tracking systems.<\/p>\n<p>Only minimal proceeds were recorded, raising concerns over missing income streams.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC3.56 million: Services without contracts (GBC)<\/h3>\n<p>Broadcast-related service providers\u2014including <strong>TPR, Silicon House, and Broadstem<\/strong>\u2014were engaged without formal contracts.<\/p>\n<p>Prof. Amin Alhassan cited for sanction.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC44.35 million: Delayed procurement ratification<\/h3>\n<p>GBC broadcast contracts were approved <strong>five months after the Games ended<\/strong>, undermining procurement legality.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC40.79 million: Misuse of GBC personnel<\/h3>\n<p>GBC staff were deployed under third-party contracts without cost recovery or revenue-sharing arrangements.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">$4.95 million: Lost broadcast revenue opportunity<\/h3>\n<p>Projected broadcast revenue of <strong>US$5 million<\/strong> collapsed to just <strong>US$45,000 in licensing fees<\/strong>, while the state incurred <strong>US$3.6 million in production costs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Free access was granted to a major broadcaster without approval.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC482.52 million: Construction supervision failures<\/h3>\n<p>Consultants were found to have certified defective works without proper quality assurance documentation, leading to major infrastructure defects.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC45.96 million: Uncompetitive procurement<\/h3>\n<p>Seven procurements were executed without documented approval authority or procurement method justification.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC18.03 million: \u201cReluctantly accepted\u201d single-source contracts<\/h3>\n<p>Eight contracts were approved by the Public Procurement Authority with reservations, yet still executed.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GHC16.57 million: PPA price reductions not justified<\/h3>\n<p>Although contract values were reduced by 5\u201310%, no supporting negotiation or value-for-money documentation was provided.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">55 single-source contracts flagged<\/h3>\n<p>The audit also revealed that <strong>55 contracts<\/strong> were single-sourced without justification, supplier vetting, or benchmarking.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The sanction question now moves to enforcement<\/h2>\n<p>The audit is explicit: many of the failures require <strong>disciplinary sanctions under Ghana\u2019s Public Procurement Act<\/strong>, particularly Section 92.<\/p>\n<p>At the centre of potential accountability are:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Former Minister <strong>Mustapha Ussif<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Former Chief Director <strong>William Kartey<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Former LOC Chairman <strong>Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>GBC Director-General <strong>Prof. Amin Alhassan<\/strong> (for broadcast-related breaches)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A system under scrutiny<\/h2>\n<p>Beyond individuals, the report paints a broader institutional failure: procurement systems bypassed, financial controls weakened, and accountability frameworks inconsistently applied.<\/p>\n<p>What emerges is not just a story of overspending\u2014but of structural breakdown in governance during one of Ghana\u2019s biggest sporting events.<\/p>\n<p>If sanctions are pursued, the African Games audit may not only reshape procurement oversight in Ghana sport\u2014but also redefine how future multi-sport events are financed, contracted, and controlled.<\/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 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expenditures.<\/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":[18273,1956,137,1896,14143,10,9,1916,1957],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-african-games-2023","category-athletics","category-football","category-hp-sports-2","category-mustapha-ussif","category-politics","category-popular","category-sports-ministry","category-tennis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120450","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=120450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}