‘Heads must roll’ – Haruna Iddrisu on GBC, Sports Ministry coverage cost dispute

Former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, believes the Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Professor Amin Alhassan, or the Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, should have been fired by now due to their ‘inability to account for public funds’.

Last week, a dispute arose between Ussif and Alhassan over how much was paid to the state broadcaster to televise the 2023 African Games.

Ussif told the Public Accounts Committee that his office paid over $3 million to GBC to broadcast the games, while Amin Alhassan denied this, stating that GBC only received $105,000.

Speaking on Pulse on Joy News on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, the Tamale South Member of Parliament said that if the two cannot reconcile the figures, they have no business in public service.

“Today, you have 245 million spent on games. You are now witnessing arguments between a Minister and a Director General of a government entity. In a civilized democracy, one of them should be home by now, if not both.

“If they are unable to explain the use of public resources, they ought not to be in public service. It’s not the NDC that provided the answers at the Public Accounts Committee.

“The Director General of GBC and a Minister disagreeing with each other publicly and not able to reconcile numbers? In a democracy, some heads must roll.”

The issues surrounding how much was paid to GBC have since been clarified by the two parties after several interviews and press releases.

However, the Forum for Accountable Governance has petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the alleged misappropriation of funds by the government during the African Games.

Kobena Woyome, Ranking Member on the Youth, Culture, and Sports Committee, claimed that $15 million was spent on food and $4.5 million on the Games Management System and Accreditation.