GBC got only $105,000 from All African Games and not $3million - Director General of GBC

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Aug - 20 - 2024 , 14:20

The Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Professor Amin Alhassan has said that GBC's total benefit from the coverage of the All African Games was $105,000.

He said apart from the $105,000, nothing more was paid as benefit to GBC.

The Director General was speaking in a radio interview on Uniiq FM on Tuesday afternoon [August 20, 2024].

He said that payment of $105,000 was as support for the fact that GBC dedicated a channel, GTV Sports+ to the African Games.

What the Sports Minister told Parliament

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif had said the government paid the national broadcaster, GBC a sum of $3 million for the coverage of the 2023 African Games, held in March 2024 in Accra.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on Monday, [August 19, 2024], Mr Ussif said the amount was paid to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) as the official broadcaster for the Games.

This was after he was asked by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram, Sam George, to share the budget allocated for the coverage.

According to Sam George, some of the technicians who worked during the African Games had claimed that they had still not been paid.

“You had an arrangement with GBC to cover the All African Games. Can you share with this committee how much that coverage was for, and whether payment has been made for same?” the NDC legislator asked.

Responding to the question, Mustapha Ussif said: “Yes, GBC was the official broadcaster for the 13th All African Games, and I can confirm that full payment has been made to GBC. I can’t remember the exact amount but I know that it is in the excess of $3 million.”

The Sports Minister also confirmed that the government owed some 28 hotels for their services rendered during the Games, in response to a question.

He added that some hotels had already been paid and assured the committee that the rest would also be remunerated soon.

But reacting to the Minister's statement in Parliament, the GBC Director General said the amount quoted is far less than what GBC received.

He said GBC never went into the All African Games with the intention to make profit as a business but as a public broadcaster.

Listen to the attached audio below

GBC got only $105,000 from All African Games and not $3million - Director General of GBC https://t.co/JO0SV2xr6o pic.twitter.com/cYGn60mBJ6
— DailyGraphic GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) August 20, 2024

“I think yesterday I was one of those who was shocked to learn that the Minister of Youth and Sports said that they had paid GBC in excess of $3 million and I want to assure every Ghanaian and the public that GBC’s total benefit from the African Games was $105,000 equivalent. Nothing more was paid as a benefit to GBC. And that payment was as support for the fact that we dedicated an entire channel, 24 hours. We suspended normal programming for the GTV Sports+ and dedicated it to the All African games. And for our role as the official broadcaster. that is what the GBC was paid and not in excess of $3 million,” he responded.

Prof Alhassan further explained that the amount was used to offset the corporation’s opportunity cost.

“When you suspend a channel’s normal programming, there is an opportunity cost, so it’s used to offset the cost of the channel not doing regular programming. So there is a loss of business. So it’s important to point out that when you take an entire channel 24 hours for two weeks, it comes at a cost, and that was what the money was for. So it was for our revenue. $105,000 and not in excess of 3 million dollars.”

GBC letter to Public Accounts Committee

Meanwhile, in a letter dated August 20, 2024 and addressed to the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, the GBC Director General, Prof Amin Alhassan clarified that per an agreement with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, GBC, as the Official Broadcaster, was to supervise the technical production teams that were to bring into the country, their own production equipment and to undertake the production of the African Games.

"It is important to clear that GBC was the Official Broadcaster but not responsible for the technical production of the Games.

"The technical production was outsourced as GBC did not have the equipment to produce the Games.

"As a result, three other organizations PGS, Quality Media Production and The Production Room were responsible for the technical production.

Attached below is a full copy of the letter to Public Accounts Committee

The Management of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation wishes to respond to two statements made at the 20th August 2024 sitting of the Public Accounts Committee, as public interest questions, which was broadcast live.
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Per an agreement with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, GBC, as the Official Broadcaster, was to supervise the technical production teams that were to bring into the country, their own production equipment and to undertake the production of the African Games. It is important to clear that GBC was the Official Broadcaster but not responsible for the technical production of the Games. The technical production was outsourced as GBC did not have the equipment to produce the Games.
The following organizations were responsible for the technical production:
1. PGS
2. Quality Media Production S.L.
3. The Production Room (TPR)
Of the total payments made for the Games, GBC was only entitled to One hundred and five thousand US Dollars (USD 105,000.00). Therefore, the statement that GBC was paid "in excess of three million US dollars" comes as a surprise.
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The Hon Samuel Nartey George, member and MP for Ningo-Prampram also stated that "most of the technicians who worked on the African games have still not been paid."
GBC wishes to put it on record that there are no outstanding payments to local technicians who were engaged by GBC to work on the African Games. All payments to local service providers have been effected.
GBC staff who were deployed were paid a daily subsistence allowance of one Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢100.00) each on location. It should be stressed that only staff who were at games location were paid.
There are no outstanding payments to be effected.