The Chairperson of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, has called for a special audit of the National Sports Authority (NSA) by the Auditor General.
The request for the audit follows revelations at the Committee's sitting on Monday, February 5, when the Sports Ministry and the NSA made an appearance.
“We will recommend in our report but I think you should recommend this to the Auditor General himself immediately. There is a need for a special audit of the National Sports Authority.
“I want to make a recommendation which will be put in the report. Listening to what is happening here, I think the place is in a mess,” said Dr. Avedzi.
Additionally, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, Sam George told JoyNews that the chairman's assertion was a step in the right direction as there was a lot of “looting” in the NSA.
Sam George alleged that revenues generated by the NSA after renting out the facility for an event were not deposited into the agency's regular account.
He stated that this is in addition to a long list of problems, including misuse of funds, lack of transparency, and questionable accounting practices.
“You know, there is the issue of the NSA vehicle that is outstanding. Just listen to the chronology of the events and make your conclusion. The NSA always parks its vehicles in Kumasi at the Sports Hotel which is part of the Kumasi Sports Stadium. Very close to it.
“The new director comes in, a brand new pick up is bought. He gets to Kumasi with his driver and says I don’t want you to park at the Sports Hotel. Go and park at a new hotel. The vehicle is parked at the new hotel, that very night, there is a robbery at the hotel and the only thing that is stolen is the pickup."
According to Sam George, after the robbery was reported, during investigations it was discovered the hotel where the pick up was parked turned off their CCTV cameras on the day of the incident, which made it difficult to trace the car or offenders.
He stated that the Director-General, despite receiving money to insure the vehicle, was unable to provide proof that the money was spent for this purpose.
“You are seeing theft. You are seeing blatant lies, you are seeing misappropriation of state funds. How do we continue like this? And the clear disrespect and undermining of his sector minister is mind-boggling.
"Except someone is sitting somewhere and maybe the Jubilee House is backing what the sports Director General is doing, you can’t see this happening in any institution," he lamented.
Credit: Emmanuella Sarfo-Ntow