The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has recommended to the Auditor-General, a special audit of the National Sports Authority (NSA). The recommendation followed a number of irregularities, including the closing down of the Accra Sports Stadium, impropriety and infractions.
The NSA, headed by the Director General, Prof. Peter Twumasi, appeared before PAC on Monday, February 5, 2024 in the company of his officials to respond to queries cited in the 2022 Auditor-General’s report.
The NSA was led by the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif.
The alleged infractions rankled the committee members, as the NSA, in its (Committee) estimation could not provide convincing explanations.
The Chairman of the PAC, James Klutse Avedzi, had no option than make a strong statement after gauging the sense around the table, during the public hearing.
He said, “We will recommend in our report. But I think you should communicate 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 we will put in our report, that the Auditor-General go and do a special audit of the National Sports Authority. It is our recommendation. You can decide to do it or not. But looking at what is happening here, I think the place is in a mess.”
ARREST
The Committee issued a stern directive for the apprehension of the Northern Regional Director and Accountant at the Tamale office of the NSA.
They are to be arrested for failing to deposit over GH₡169,791.25 internally generated funds into the designated transit account of the NSA. Their action violates the Public Financial Management Regulations of 2019.
As contained in paragraph 864 of the report, the Auditors recommended that the Chief Director should ensure that the unauthorised funds used by the management of the authority be refunded and paid into the Auditor General recovery account.
The Committee was told that the Regional Director and Accountant, who are signatories to the account, had not deposited the amount. By law, they were to retain 66% of all IGF and lodge 34% into the consolidated fund transit account.
The Director General of NSA, Prof. Twumasi, told the committee that the affected regions were written to on January 16, 2024 to attend the PAC meeting, but the Northern Regional Director did not show up.
The Chief Accountant of the NSA informed the Committee that he did not know why the Tamale office did not lodge the 44%,, but his monitoring has not gotten to Tamale yet, despite the recalcitrance of that office. He told the Committee that the Tamale office spent that money on goods and services.
“Look, that office is rotten. I mean, the [National Sports] Authority is rotten. Minister, we are directing that the Regional Director and Accountant in the region be picked up by the police. They should be picked up immediately by the police.
“You are invited to appear before a Committee of Parliament, but you refuse to attend, knowing very well that you have squandered over GH₡160,000 and that you think that we will leave you scot-free. Minister, kindly do that and let’s get the feedback,” the PAC chairman directed.
The Minister for Youth and Sports assured the committee that action would be taken and a report would be given to the committee.
DEBT WRITE OFF
Another issue was the unauthorised declaration of bad debt, captured at paragraph 867 of the report. The auditors reviewed that, without the approval of the Minister for Finance, the Tamale office wrote off GH₡21,150 owed by Vodafone Ghana and CCMI Pastor Aziz.
The Auditors recommended that they reinstate the debt and ensure recovery. Though the Chief Accountant informed the Committee they had complied with the recommendation, the auditors said they had no evidence to that effect.
In fact, it was revealed that the debt, two years down the line, had not been recovered, except to say that the Chief Accountant said a demand notice had been sent to the organisations.
When asked for the basis for the write-off, the Chief Accountant said the Northern Regional Director would be the right person to answer, but she did not attend the sitting yesterday.
The Vice Chairman of the Committee, Samuel Atta-Mills, also said he was not impressed with the happenings at the authority, saying that there was a lot of rot at the NSA.
He mentioned that Vodafone Ghana owed the NSA GH₡18,900 and CCMI owed the NSA GH₡2,250 and did not understand why the amounts were written off by a regional head “without permission.”
The Chief Accountant, who fumbled in an attempt to offer an explanation, sounded unconvincing.
Looking disappointed, the Vice Chair, Samuel Atta-Mills, said “Ei, National Sports Authority! I won’t talk about Black Stars.”
The Committee gave the NSA one month to recover the GH₡21,150 owed by Vodafone Ghana and CCMI Pastor Aziz.
UNDERMINE
The Committee observed that the Director General of the NSA, Prof. Twumasi, undermines the Minister for Youth and Sports.
The PAC arrived at the conclusion after observing that Prof. Twumasi blocked a directive by the sector minister for the Central Regional Director, Alexander Tieku, to be transferred.
The Committee noted that the DG of NSA, Prof. Twumasi, signed the letter transferring Alexander Tieku on the request of the Minister, but had further discussion with Tieku on the blindside of the Minister, for the transfer not to be effected.
Though Tieku initially denied receiving such a letter, when pressed further, he later told the committee he received it via WhatsApp.
The sector minister told the Committee that he was aware of the transfer as he directed for it and was aware of the officer refusing to move.
The minister explained what initiated the transfer. He said ahead of the World Cup qualifying match, there was an independence celebration on the pitch.
He said, considering how the pitch would be affected, he had identified an expert in pitch maintenance to offer help in putting the pitch in shape for the match and recommended it to the DG of the NSA.
The person, according to the Minister, manages the pitch of Right to Dream Academy, but the Cape Coast Regional Director did not give the expert access.
This culminated in a failure on the part of the usual team to prepare the pitch for the match, leading to a rescheduling to Kumasi.
Prof. Twumasi admitted to discussing the transfer with Mr. Tieku and he asked the Regional Director to stay on.
Prof. Twumasi explained that there were some home matches to be played that “needed much experience,” thus asking him not to leave.
On not allowing the pitch management expert access, he said “it was purely a misunderstanding,” arguing that the stadium was a very sensitive place.
“You are not respecting the minister at all. You are actually undermining the minister. It is not good. Mr. Twumasi, it is not good,” the PAC chairman said, but Prof. Twumasi debunked that assertion.
The Committee directed that the acting Cape Coast Regional Director, Mr. Tieku to honour the transfer. The PAC directed the DG of NSA, Prof. Twumasi, to ensure the transfer was honoured and report back to it.
In a public interest question, the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nettey George, raised concerns about the use of the pitch for other events.
He asked whether pitch covers were used during the festive season, when events were held on the pitch. Notable was the musical concert held by dancehall artiste, Livingston Etse Satekla (Stonebwoy), for which the DG said pitch covers were not used.
He explained that the covers are used for a short period, but that event occupied the pitch for over four days, meaning if the pitch was covered, heat would have destroyed it faster than the event did.
However, he said that the amount charged to use the facility was able to recover the pitch and showed pictures of the all-green-looking pitch of the Accra Sports Stadium.
Meanwhile, the MP probed further to know why the amounts realised from the December events were not deposited in the Accra account of the NSA, given that they manage the facility.
According to the MP, part of the GH₡250,000 accrued from renting out the Accra sports stadium was paid in the Accra account and some in the Kumasi account of the NSA.
The Chief Accountant admitted that happened, but told the Committee that he acted on the instructions of the DG of NSA.
The DG did not see anything wrong with the development, as he argued that the NSA runs all the accounts, and in the event of financial difficulties, the authority relies on its regional account for succour.
He later claimed that the Bank of Ghana had garnished their account because of tax liability.
The Ningo-Prampram MP raised another issue with regards to a contract with Multichoice Ghana to brand the Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale sports stadia.
According to the MP, though Multichoice says it paid money for all three, the NSA has it in its record that the Kumasi branding was through a barter system with Multichoice.
The Chief Accountant and the DG said they were not aware of the barter, and the DG said that could easily be verified.
