Uneasy calm at National Sports Authority

By George Osei

Crevice at the National Sports Authority (NSA) has deepened in the aftermath of a local Trades Union Congress (TUC) meeting attended by the Acting Director-General, Alice Attipoe, in a staff gathering recently investigations by this reporter has revealed.

The acting Director General, who is on secondment pending retirement vehemently, dismissed reports of employment nepotism and misuse of the Authority?s money at the said meeting.

"I have not chopped your money, and I'm not employing personnel from my tribe" she underscored in the crunch meeting just after a lecture by some officials of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

Her leadership of the NSA, has been accused of by most members of staff as among other visible issues, marginalization, nepotism, the lack of transparency, particularly in the Internally Generated Fund (IGF), although billions have been raked for the past four years.

The likes of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Jehovah Witness, Charter House, Tigo, among others have on a number of occasions paid huge sums to rent the Accra Sports Stadium which is rented per day in the region of GH?30,000 or beyond, while the stadium gym, outside car parks and billboards advertising, rakes in lots of money for the Authority.

Interestingly, this IGF which could have been used for the stadium rehabilitation works have not been properly accounted for, thus compelling the government to cough up a whopping GH?53, 872, 871 for stadia renovation, among other issues.

Local TUC chairman, Kwame Ampofi reiterated at the meeting, the need for an NSA staff to take up the Authority's leadership position, a position unanimously endorsed by the staff workers for the advancement and betterment of the Authority.

Ever since the NSA leadership got in the hands of personalities outside the NSA fraternity, workers have persistently lamented notably the lack of administration transparency, non-payment of car maintenance and fuel allowances, staff wellbeing and technical/administration bankruptcy as the bane of the Authority.

Partisan political propensity deeply emerged after Prince Oduro-Mensah was displaced from the NSA as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), as the succeeding leaderships hid behind the powers that be, to derailing the government of its fight against corruption, and ensuring that even one Erasmus Adorkor indicted by the popular and genuine Maputo Report of embezzlement of government funds is left off the hook.

The bane of Adorkor, a volleyball coach, who is still the Chief Sports Development Officer of the NSA, has been attributed to his alleged rape of one national athlete (name withheld) ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, as well as the supervision of regional heads, and other subordinates who are more qualified and experienced to scheme a road map for sports development in the country.