By Ghana News 
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has strongly criticized the Ministry of Sports and Recreation for submitting an unbacked GH¢35.8 million reimbursement request to the Ministry of Finance. The multi-million cedi claim was meant to cover the deployment of 6,000 police officers during the 2023 African Games hosted in Ghana.
During a tense parliamentary hearing, committee members fiercely questioned sports officials over the total absence of receipts, logs, or payment vouchers. PAC Ranking Member Samuel Atta-Mills expressed deep shock, suggesting that recurring structural irregularities might require a complete annual rotation of the ministry’s internal staff.
Exacerbating the administrative friction, the committee flaggered a separate, undocumented GH¢455,000 bill submitted to the ministry for hostel accommodation during the continental event. PAC members stressed that public spending must remain transparent, ordering the ministry to immediately produce the missing paper trail.
The massive police deployment bill shocked organizers because the security agencies completely failed to justify the sudden expense after the sports event concluded. Executive Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare, revealed that the police were initially scheduled to provide routine security assistance, with the LOC even covering their feeding costs.
However, the security units later altered their deployment logistics and unexpectedly slapped the ministry with the massive GH¢35.8 million bill without any breakdown. Despite formal written requests from the LOC demanding immediate financial clarification, the police command has failed to provide a single supporting invoice.
Factual Insights into the 2023 African Games Fiscal Oversight:
- The Security Invoice: The disputed expenditure claims a massive allocation of GH¢35,800,000.00 dedicated exclusively to a force of 6,000 police officers.
- The Accommodation Deficit: A parallel, unvouched billing of GH¢455,000.00 was presented for athlete hostel facilities without receipts.
- The Accountability Mandate: Under parliamentary standing orders, the Public Accounts Committee retains full judicial powers to recommend the prosecution of public officers for unvouched expenditures.
The administrative showdown at the PAC highlights that national sporting success cannot serve as a shield for reckless public accounting. For Ghana to maintain institutional credibility, the Ministry of Sports must enforce uncompromising tracking metrics on all auxiliary service providers.
As the committee’s strict deadline for document submission approaches, the focus stays on whether the police will finally deliver an audited breakdown. Moving forward, state-backed events must prioritize real-time financial tracking to ensure that taxpayer resources are thoroughly protected from institutional duplication.
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Source – mygtvsports