Abdul Malik Kweku Baako
Editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has jumped to the defence of Ghana’s Sports Minister Hon. Isaac Asiamah over the country’s budget at the just-ended Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt.
Kweku Baako described critics of the $4.6million expenditure on the Black Stars as suffering from “premature ejaculation.”
To him, critics who rushed to town to condemn the Minister of Sports are ignorant of how rules of Parliament work.
“The Minister was in Parliament on Standing Order 70(2) …to give only an interim report. All he presented in Parliament is subject to verification,” he said in News File.
“For me nothing has gone amiss. People, of course, are right to question some expenditure. But everything will be discoverable after an audit.
“So why the rush? The figures the Minister presented are preliminary, subject to verification,” he observed.
Kwaku Baako further said that “…it is too early for the kind of noise going out there. This is a disaster.”
He pointed out that the Minister’s assurances that a full report was being expected from the Normalisation Committee should calm nerves as there are other windows to get accountability on finances spent in the Black Stars campaign in Egypt.
“Members of Parliament can also trigger Urgent Question for the Minister to appear before the house. The Ministry of Sports will also do a detailed statement of accounts and the Auditor General will audit them before the report comes to parliament,” he clarified.
When colleague panellist, Randy Abbey, a former spokesperson of the Ghana Football Association interjected questioning why Parliament will only be briefed on AFCON expenditure when a budget was not approved by the House, Kwaku Baako disclosed that the expenditure was voted from the Contingency Fund of government.
Kwaku Baako also observed that he has no problems with investments on sports as he is a football fanatic. He, however, submitted that the process of funding must undergo transparency and accountability for purposes of good governance.
Mr. Isaac Asiamah, Minister of Sports shocked the whole nation on Monday when he disclosed that a staggering $6.3million was budgeted and $4.5million spent on the Black Stars failed AFCON agenda in Egypt.
The itemised breakdown has not been convincing enough, igniting intense debates and calls for proper accounting detail.
