Nana Oduro Sarfo
Nana Oduro Sarfo, a member of the Ghana Football Association's (GFA) Executive Council has replied member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over the latter's AFCON 2023 budget exposé.
Okudzeto Ablakwa, in a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), revealed that the government approved a budget of $8.5 million presented by the Ghana Football Association for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Okudzeto further explained that his revelation is an effort to break 'the basic information' that the GFA and the Sports Ministry have 'concealed' to keep it out of the public eye.
Oduro Sarfo, in reaction, accused Okodzeto of releasing the budget to redirect public discourse, like the commencement of work on the National Cathedral.
He claimed that the MP's expose was to find a dent in the New Patriotic Party after they had a problem-free parliamentary primaries on January 27, 2024.
"He may have published the details to influence public discourse and deflect our focus from important issues. Maybe he did not like the fact that the New Patriotic Party's Parliamentary Primaries were peaceful, free and fair," he said.
"Or because he does not want Ghanaians to talk about the resumption of work on the National Cathedral."
Oduro Sarfo claims that his research suggests Okodzeto's political party National Democratic Party has approved the most atrocious AFCON budgets ever.
"I have done my research and concluded that, in the history of this country, NDC governments have approved the most outrageous of budgets as far as AFCON is concerned."
"Even though the prize money for AFCON 2015 was $1.5, they (the NDC government) budgeted $15m."
Contrary to the said $15 million budget claim, the NDC government then approved a budget of $3,224,139.20 a reduction of a proposed $4,774,519.19 by then Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga.
EE/EK
