Former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has called for the dismissal of the Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Professor Amin Alhassan, and the Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, over their alleged failure to account for public funds.
Iddrisu’s comments come amid a dispute between the two officials regarding payments made to televise the 2023 African Games.
Last week, Mustapha Ussif informed the Public Accounts Committee that his office had paid over $3 million to GBC for broadcasting the games. However, Professor Amin Alhassan contradicted this claim, stating that GBC received only $105,000.
Speaking on Pulse on Joy News on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, Iddrisu, the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, criticized both officials for their conflicting accounts and argued that they should be held accountable for their inability to reconcile the figures.
“In a civilized democracy, one of them should be home by now, if not both,” Iddrisu stated. “If they are unable to explain the use of public resources, they ought not to be in public service. It’s not the NDC that provided the answers at the Public Accounts Committee. The Director General of GBC and a Minister disagreeing with each other publicly and not able to reconcile numbers? In a democracy, some heads must roll.”
While the financial discrepancies have since been addressed through various interviews and press releases, the Forum for Accountable Governance has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the alleged misappropriation of funds related to the African Games.
Additionally, Kobena Woyome, Ranking Member on the Youth, Culture, and Sports Committee, has raised concerns about the spending, claiming that $15 million was allocated for food and $4.5 million for the Games Management System and Accreditation.
