More than 40 hoteliers have threatened legal action against the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) over unpaid dues for hosting visitors during the 13th African Games.
The hoteliers allege that, despite receiving an initial 20 percent payment from the Ministry, all attempts to collect the remaining balance have been unsuccessful.
This year, the 13th African Games saw participation from over 13,000 individuals, including 5,000 athletes, 3,000 technical officials, 3,000 volunteers, and 2,000 guests from 54 African nations, many of whom were accommodated in hotels across Accra.
As reported by 3news.com, the LOC, in conjunction with the Ministry, had negotiated the accommodation rates before the event, agreeing that 20 percent would be paid upfront and the remaining 80 percent immediately after the games.
However, despite the games concluding on March 23, the Ministry has yet to settle the outstanding debt.
“We fed them for 21 days and 21 nights during the three weeks they stayed. Some of us have 30 rooms, others have 40 rooms, and they booked all.
They promised us that they would pay the balance before the visitors left, but they did not. On the last day, we even wanted to lock them in, but we thought about the bad image it would give Ghana,” a hotelier is quoted by 3 News to have said.
Another hotelier also expressed disappointment at the turn of events.
“We have been to the ministries and the LOC several times, and the accountant keeps giving us excuses that they are doing auditing.
For how long are they going to do the auditing when we have clients to settle? We credited the food items to feed them, the toiletries, etc. We credited a lot of items, so the suppliers are also after their money.”
“We are prepared to sue both the Ministry and the LOC to unlock our money,” the hotelier added.
Meanwhile, the ministry according to the report has indicated that it will soon issue a statement to clarify issues surrounding the payment.