The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has demanded the immediate dismissal of the Minister of Youth and Sports and the dissolution of the Local Organizing Committee of the ongoing African Games being hosted by Ghana.
The party also called for a forensic audit of the budget and expenditure of the game and a parliamentary probe into the event’s financial and organizational management following the series of scandals that have plagued the hosting.
National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, expressed the party’s concerns over the unfortunate events unfolding and slammed the management of the games under the Akfo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
He cited several incidents that have already marred the reputations of the games.
Among the issues he raised was South Africa’s withdrawal of both its men’s and women’s hockey teams due to what has been described as the ‘substandard nature of Ghana’s Hockey Pitch.’
This added to the growing list of concerns surrounding the games, which also includes the withdrawal of Ghana’s Cycling Champion, Michael Naaba, due to equipment failure and the national swimming team’s exit from the 4×100 relay final under unclear circumstances.
Ghanaian athletes, according to the NDC, are expressing dissatisfaction with the games’ preparations and the lack of adequate equipment, despite the government reportedly spending a significant sum of USD$195 million on pre-games arrangements, with an additional USD$48 million allocated to the Local Organising Committee for various logistics.
“The NDC is appalled by the outrageous amount of money that has been sunk into the ongoing All Africa games by the ruling NPP government, which have so far yielded nothing but embarrassment and shame for our country.”
“This is yet another evidence of the ineptitude and corruption of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government which continues to bring the name of Ghana into disrepute after rendering the national economy bankrupt,” he stated.
He warned the next NDC/Mahama government will surely visit this 13th African Games scandal in the future and expressed the solidarity of the party with Ghanaians to demand answers for all the embarrassment brought upon the nation by the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government.