¢8.8 Billion Maputo Scandal Pt. 3

--GH¢808,955.00 and US$2.2 Million for 232-man Contingent

Front Page Newspaper today brings you the concluding part of the scandal that rocked the nation during the All African Games in Maputo, Mozambique in 2011.

The National Sports Council led by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Worlanyo Agra, presented a budget of GH¢808,955.00 and US$2.2 million for the 232-man team to represent Ghana.

A report presented by Nii Adotey Din Barimah led-committee set up by the government to investigate the corruption at the Council indicted the officials and the companies that were contracted by the Council to provided different kinds of services.

Mr. Agra and his subordinates, particularly the Chief Sports Development Officer of the Authority, Mr. Erasmus Adorkor, have been indicted in the report after investigations of various forms of malpractices in their handling of Ghana’s participation at the games.

The stinking Maputo Report says in a part that “The Committee believes that given extent of managerial incompetence, institutionalized corruption and organization rot that is going on at the National Sports Council, it is only a ‘roots and branch’ shake up of the entire setup that will rid the organization of these ills.

In this edition, we bring you the concluding part of the report.

POOR AUDITING

The Committee finds that the internal audit department is part of a very disorganized system, which would find it difficult to distance itself from a charge of being corrupt. The primary purpose of internal audit is to detect fraud. The many documentation problems the Committee came across all had stamps of approval of the Acting Internal Auditor on them, meaning that he the internal auditor had approved the transactions.

NON-PARTICIPATION IN OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES

The Committee finds that Team Ghana did not partake in both the opening and closing ceremonies for a variety of reasons. First, the suits for the Games were not delivered on time by Kwashie Tailors. Second, the participating sporting disciplines had either not arrived at the Games at the time of the opening ceremony because of the many travel problems, or had left the Games early to avoid the hustle and rush of the departing teams at the time of the closing ceremony.

THE MISSING $32,100

The Committee finds that Mr. Adorkor should be held liable for the sum of $32,100, which Mr. Agra persuaded Mr. Yiriwanu Sambo Aminu, an Accounts Officer at the Ministry of Youth & Sports, to give to Mr. Adorkor, ostensibly as ‘football’s contribution to Ghana’s overall participation fees of $150,000.00. There was only one payment of $150,000.00 and no other payment. Mr. Adorkor’s claim that there was an invoice of $182,100.00 still awaits corroboration, because no such invoice has been seen by anybody.

ACCOMMODATION CRISIS

The Committee finds that majority of athletes and officials lived at the Games Village. The accommodation crisis at the Games Village compelled the two football teams to relocate to Hotel Libombos in Namaacha, a town 70 kilometers from Maputo. The Committee also finds that the accommodation crisis was so severe that every inch of space in the apartments allocated to Team Ghana was in use, with the exception of toilets and bathroom. Furthermore, the Committee finds it disconcerting that in a few instances some male and female athletes of some disciplines in Team Ghana were compelled by the crisis to sleep on mattresses in the same room, and particularly when this concerned a 14-year old female.

BUDGETING AND OVERSPENDING

The Committee finds that a large portion of the budget for sports ends up not going where it is supposed to and that unless Government takes steps to arrest this situation it would have a negative impact on the development of sports in the country.

The Committee finds that a common feature of the budget for the All African Games was continuous over-spending of monies voted by Government without permission or explanation.

AUTONOMY OF THE SPORTS ASSOCIATIONS

The Committee finds that the relationship between the Sports Associations on the one hand and the National Sports Council and the General Secretaries on the other hand should be redefined to give the sports associations ‘real’ autonomy to bring the General Secretaries under the umbrella of the associations.

The Committee finds that Ghana Swimming Association led by Mr. Theophilus Edzie over-exaggerated its ratings in the run-up to the Maputo Games in order to use that as a platform to achieve international recognition in its battle with a rival organization led by Mr. Issah Ibrahim.

PATRIOTISM AND SENSE OF DUTY

The Committee finds that it was the unique sense of duty and personal effort of Mr. Gabriel Owusu Ansah that saved Ghana from national disgrace and humiliation.

NO SERVICE STANDARDS

The Committee finds that there are no service standards by which the conduct of employees of the National Sports Council can be measured, and by which they can be held accountable.

MR. ADORKOR SHOULD BE HELD LIABLE FOR THE 17 KENTE CLOTHS

The Committee finds Mr. Adorkor negligent in collecting 17 men Kente cloths from the Storekeeper of the National Sports Council and not returning same to him for the past one and a half years. Mr. Adorkor should be held personally liable.

TRAVEL MATTERS OWED 18,200 AND DENIED A SHARE OF THE MAPUTO TICKETS

The Committee finds that there is documentary evidence to indicate that Travel Matters supplied 13 return tickets to the National Sports Council of the cost of $18,200.00 to enable the Ghana Athletics Association travel to Dakar to take part in a competition. The tickets were ordered by Mr. Erasmus Adorkor on the morning of 13th May 2010 when the team was due to travel. When the Al Africa Games was coming up Travel Matters was promised a share of the tickets in order to enable the travel company to defray some of its arrears, but this did not materialize.

Editors Note: It’s been over two months since this report became a subject of public discourse and we do not see the reason why the government has said nothing and been silence about this scandal when a competent committee chaired by Nii Adotey Din Barima has come out with such an unambiguous findings.

We will continue to call for the public support to let the powers that be to take strict action on this damming report. To us at Front Page, we believe that the time to act is now else the Maputo Report will end up in cobweb infested cardboard at the Ministry of Sports as many such reports have been locked up at other ministries without any prudent action taken.