Sam George grills NSA boss Peter Twumasi for renting Accra Sports stadium for concerts

The member of parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George, squared off with the National Sports Authority Director-General, Professor Peter Twumasi, over the havoc that has been done to the Accra Sports Stadium after renting it out for concerts.

During Parliament's Public Accounts Committee sitting on Monday, February 5, 2024, Sam George demanded to know if the money the NSA made after renting out the Accra Sports Stadium was enough to pay for the damages that had been caused to the facility.

“You decided to rent out the stadium for a social event. The Burniton Music Group paid ₵70,000. Is the ₵70,000 enough to restore the damage that was done to the pitch,” Sam George quizzed.

Responding to the question, Professor Twumasi was caught fumbling as he failed to disclose the actual amount needed to repair damages at the stadium.

He rather explained that there is a pitch insurance cover which is sufficient to pay for the restoration of the damages caused on the pitch.

“The calculation which we have done for the various events which have a certain component which we call the pitch insurance cover is able to restore,” Professor Twumasi said.

According to the NSA boss, renting stadia for concerts is a common phenomenon because he rented out the stadia which was used for the Independence celebrations in recent times.

“I think if you remember before we shifted our sporting activities to other stadia, we had made mention of this to all stakeholders. Non-sporting activities occurring at our stadia are not new,” he said.

He added, “This is not the first time Professor Tswumasi is granting permission for the usage of the facility for other non-sporting activities. We’ve done it all the time. Even independence celebration we did it at Tamale, Cape Coast, Kumasi Baba Yara Stadium. So we do it.”

Since 2022, the National Sports Authority has been closing down the Accra Sports Stadium and other facilities for sporting purposes to rent it out for concerts.

However, in December 2023, a number of sports fans in Ghana got triggered after the NSA shut down the facility to rent it out to Stonebwoy for his BHIM Concert.

The green turf at Accra Sports Stadium got depleted as the grass was damaged as bikers were seen screeching the surface of the pitch which already had a giant stage mounted on it.

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JNA/ ADG