Ghana Premier League legend, Charles Taylor, has asserted that Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, is still at the post because President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo has been negligent about what is happening in the ministry.
Speaking in reaction to a reported bloated budget for the 2023 African Games, Taylor expressed that the Sports Minister should be barred from engaging the Black Stars in their upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
He stated that the minister should be axed for allegedly spending more than parliament's approved budget for the African Games.
"The Sports Minister shouldn't be allowed to be in and around the Black Stars for the Agola game. He has to stay away or step aside. The government should let him step aside. Akufo-Addo should let him step aside," he said on Angel TV.
The former Asante Kotoko player believes Ussif's sacking is long overdue because the president is sleeping.
"Akufo-Addo is sleeping, I guess. If he is not sleeping, the sports minister would have been sacked. imagine the money they've spent since he has been in office, but nobody asks questions. We don't want nonchalant government in this country."
The government is reported to have spent a staggering $245 million as expenditure on the African Games hosted in Ghana from March 4 to March 23, 2024.
According to the sports ministry, $195 million was spent on infrastructure, with $145 million invested in the construction of the Borteyman Sports Centre, $34 million spent on renovating the University of Ghana Stadium, and $16 million used for the refurbishment of the Games Village at Legon.
A further $47.7 million was approved as an operation budget intended to cover expenses during the games.
"The estimated amount of $47,712,853 is designated to cover the operations of the LOC. These operations include technical meetings with the Technical Committee for the African Games (TCAG), preparation of relevant guidelines, rules, regulations, and manuals, sensitisation efforts, payment for the games management system, accommodation for participants (including athletes, volunteers, and officials), internal transportation, airfare for officials, catering services, security, allowances, accreditation, medical equipment, athlete medals, office rent, logistics, equipment purchase, anti-doping services, and members’ allowances," Mustapha Ussif said as quoted by graphic.com.
However, Kobena Woyome, a ranking member of the Youth, Sports, and Culture Committee of Parliament, recent revelations about the money spent on the games raised concerns with many demanding probing.
Kobena Woyome, in a recent interview with Joy News, revealed that participating countries paid a daily fee of $80 per athlete to the Local Organising Committee for accommodation and feeding.
The daily payments tend to contradict a gigantic $15 million, which was said to have been spent on feeding athletes at the Games in a report submitted to the 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," he told JoySports.
"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."
Kobena Woyome's revelation added to the African Games broadcasting rights saga, where an account given by the Sports Minister suggested that the ministry paid in excess of $3 million to GBC for the coverage of the 13th African Games.
However, GBC's Director-General, Professor Amin Alhassan, denied receiving the said amount and clarified that the state broadcaster earned $105,000.
Watch Charles Taylor's assertion via the video below from 16:30 minutes
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