Kobena Woyome, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Youth, Sports, and Culture Committee, has raised serious concerns over discrepancies in the reported expenditures for feeding athletes during the 2023 African Games. According to Woyome, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) charged participating nations $80 per athlete per day for both accommodation and meals, with these fees paid directly to the LOC.
Woyome revealed this during an interview with JoySports, highlighting that the payments made by the participating countries do not align with the staggering $15 million reportedly spent on feeding athletes, as indicated in a report submitted to the parliamentary committee.
“What is staggering, which I think I haven’t mentioned in the previous interview, is that the participating countries that were housed paid almost $80 per person daily for food and accommodation. Yeah, they paid to the LOC,” Woyome stated.
He questioned the necessity of the $15 million expenditure, given that the LOC had already collected significant fees from the participating countries for the same purpose. Woyome expressed confusion over the reported figures and announced that the committee plans to investigate the matter further.
“So if all these monies were paid, then why do you have to spend $15 million for almost the same thing? We are not too sure, and there are things that we are not clear about, so we will go into this matter,” he added.
Woyome’s revelations come amid ongoing controversy surrounding the African Games, particularly regarding the broadcasting rights. In an earlier account, the Sports Minister claimed that the ministry paid over $3 million to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) for coverage of the 13th African Games. However, GBC’s Director-General, Professor Amin Alhassan, disputed this, stating that the state broadcaster only received $105,000.
These inconsistencies in reported expenditures have prompted calls for a thorough investigation to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of funds related to the 2023 African Games.
