Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has slammed the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 13th African Games for stating that it would only be able to account for the $48 million operational budget for the hosting of the games when all is said and done.
Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 13th African Games has admitted that the government of Ghana has allocated an amount of $48 million as the operational budget for the hosting and organisation of the Games.
The LOC made this public following the release of some documents by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa ahead of the games.
Despite admitting to this, the LOC has noted that it cannot make public details of what comprises the $48 million budgeted for presently.
“Secondly, the $48m quoted in the letter leaked by Hon. Ablakwa as the operational budget for the hosting and organisation of the Games goes into recurrent expenditure, and the LOC will be in a better position to give a breakdown when the Games are over,” the LOC said in a statement.
In response, Mr Ablakwa in a Facebook post noted that “it is most bizarre for the LOC to state in its third paragraph that they can only provide a breakdown of the US$48million (GHS602million) when the games are over.”
“The logical question that arises is how they came to the conclusion that they need US$48million if they do not have a breakdown?” he further quizzed.
The LOC has noted that the operational budget of the LOC cannot be limited to the 18-day period of the Games as hosting pan-continental competitions such as the iconic African Games comes with significant investment but also, with enduring country-impacting benefits.
“The impression created by Hon. Ablakwa that the sum of USD$48m will be spent within the period spanning 8th-23rd March is an erroneous and disingenuous ploy to divert the attention of Ghanaians from the excellent work done by the Government of Ghana and the LOC to organise and host the 13th African Games. This is the first time Ghana is getting the opportunity to host the most significant sporting tournament in Africa since it was first established in 1965,” it added.
The LOC continued: “It must be noted however, that hosting 54 African countries comes with huge cost implications in the areas of Medical and Anti-doping, Transport, Accommodation, Catering. Branding, Games Management System. Team Ghana preparation, Broadcasting and Equipment for 29 sporting disciplines among others.”
According to Mr Ablakwa, “this staggering US$48 million is an entirely different amount from the mega US$195 million (GHS2.4 billion) already spent on infrastructure for the games.”
“At the prevailing exchange rate, US$48 million is equivalent to a colossal GHS602 million,” he added.
In his recent statement, Mr Ablakwa noted that LOC has “disingenuously” avoided a response to the fundamental concern of proceeding to spend GHS602 million when Parliament approved GHS100 million.
He has assured that Parliament will hold the Local Organising Committee (LOC) accountable.
