Ghanaians have received assurances from Kofi Iddi Adams, Minister of Sports and Recreation, that his ministry would maintain openness in the allocation of funding for the Black Stars and other national teams. Adams has also promised that future budgets will be made public prior to games.
The Minister said the ministry would continue to be transparent and responsible while acknowledging the high level of public interest in the way monies are utilised to assist national teams at a media conference in Accra on Thursday.
"I understand that many of you have been concerned about the expense of supporting the national teams, and we promised to keep you informed," he stated. "We won't hide it from you and claim that we won't disclose anything for auditing reasons. No. We will explain everything to you as it becomes evident, even before the audits arrive.
The ministry has yet to clear any overdue payments and is now gathering resources to reimburse expenditures from Ghana's recent matches against Chad and Madagascar, according to Mr. Adams.
As far as Ghana vs Chad and Ghana versus Madagascar are concerned, "for those of you who believe that we have had all the money and paid for what we must pay—no, we haven't been able to do that yet," he said. "Working on it is still ongoing."
In order to provide the public time to review and comprehend future match-related budgets, the Minister pledged to share them well in advance.
"We'll have enough time to even publish the budget ahead of expenditure by our next game, which is in September," he said. "Time restrictions prevented us from doing so for the last match, but they won't be a problem going forward. We will be able to contact you here and provide you with the opportunity to ask pertinent questions in order to get an explanation.
He went on to say that technical jargon might sometimes cause budget line items to be misinterpreted, and he underlined the need of media participation in elucidating such issues.
"When I first started as a minister, I was given the first budget, and there were a lot of things that I would have just struck out if I had a pen and no explanation," he said. "But now that it's explained, you know what that item really stands for."
The public would also have access to comprehensive post-match spending reports, Mr. Adams promised. "After everything is finished, we'll give you another call so you can access the account," he said.
His remarks follow public controversy over remarks he made in a television interview about flying the national team first class if they win the FIFA World Cup, and they coincide with increased calls for responsibility in sports funding.
He defended his comments while reaffirming that openness and sound governance would continue to be essential components of his leadership at the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
He emphasised, "We said we will stick to it—the accounts will be made known to you." "That pledge is still in effect."
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