African Games contracts: Auditor-General goes after GH¢580m losses

The Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, has begun processes to surcharge four former officials of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) in order to recover all the money lost through overpriced contracts, non-delivery of goods, and flagrant financial irregularities during the hosting of the 13th African Games.

Mr Asiedu, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the law empowered him to act immediately.

“We are going after the money right away,” he said.

Citing Article 187(7) of the 1992 Constitution – which gives the Auditor-General the power to disallow any item of expenditure that is contrary to law and to surcharge the person responsible – the Auditor-General named the four officials to be surcharged as the former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif; a former Chief Director of the Sports Ministry, William Kartey; a former LOC Chairman, Dr Kwaku Ofosu-Asare, and the Director-General of GBC, Professor Amin Alhassan.

A Comprehensive Audit Report on the 13th African Games, Accra 2023, released by Mr Asiedu unearthed overpayments, unjustified cash withdrawals, single-sourced contracts worth billions of cedis without documentation, and millions of cedis paid for services never delivered.

Mr Asiedu said the Audit Service had already received responses to the audit report from some entities and individuals cited in the report, which was currently before Parliament, but indicated that the responses varied in levels of acceptance and contestation.

However, the Auditor-General insisted that the law would take its course without delay.

He made it clear that his authority to disallow and surcharge was derived directly from Article 187(7) of the Constitution – which states that in the performance of his functions, the Auditor-General “shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority” and “may disallow any item of expenditure which is contrary to law and surcharge”.

Section 92 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended further provides for the recovery of sums irregularly paid and imposes penalties, including fines or imprisonment for contravention.

“What we are doing now is in accordance with the law which mandates us to recover such monies, and we are moving with speed on this one.

“Already we have some confessions and admissions, but you know certainly there would be some contestations on individual findings, and we are prepared for that,” he told the Daily Graphic.

Mr Asiedu disclosed that the Audit Service had already recorded success in previous recovery exercises. 

Milestones

He revealed that as of May 26, 2026, an amount of GH¢10. million had been recovered from previous audit findings.

The recoveries, he explained, comprised GH¢5.6 million and GH¢4.7 million, which had been paid into the Auditor-General’s recovery account, ready for transfer into the Consolidated Fund.

“This GH¢10.3 million recovered was not even directly from surcharges, but individuals cited in our reports who hurriedly came to pay to avoid trouble,” Mr Asiedu revealed. 

GBC

The audit found that GBC, appointed as Host Broadcaster for the Games, engaged three service providers at a cost of approximately GH¢3.56 million without executing formal written contracts.

The corporation failed to produce signed service agreements, legally binding instruments, or any documentation evidencing terms of engagement, scope of work, deliverables, pricing, or dispute resolution mechanisms.

Specifically, The Production Room (TPR) was engaged to train GBC journalists, reporters, and crew at a cost of $57,030 (GH¢684,000) – but audit interviews and document review found no schedules, attendance records, training materials, or certificates.

No evidence of any training delivery existed.

The contract was paid 100 per cent in advance without competitive procurement. Silicon House Productions supplied two outside broadcast production vans for $165,000, while Broadstem Co. Ltd provided satellite services valued at €65,149.

The audit further estimated that GBC lost $4.96 million (GH¢59.5 million) in potential broadcast revenue due to poor management and marketing of the Games.

• Read also:
• How GBC management responded to forensic audit queries on 13th African Games broadcasting issues
• 2023 African Games forensic audit: Mustapha Ussif, William Kartey, Kwaku Ofosu-Asare recommended for recovery actions and sanctions
• Public Accounts Committee questions GH¢35.8million police bill for 2023 African Games

Overpayments

Among other findings, the audit revealed that the Sports Ministry paid GH¢38.9 million to Delovely Company Ltd under a sports equipment contract valued at $3.24 million, yet equipment worth $206,000 for table tennis, badminton and handball was never supplied.

A further $408,000 lump-sum item labelled “Sports Equipment” had no specifications or documentation.

The Auditor-General determined an overpayment of $374,000 (GH¢4.5 million).

Other overpriced contracts related to anti-doping test kits procured from Omni Specialty Product Limited cost €739,000, but benchmarking revealed that was overcharged at €572,000 (GH¢8 million).

In another case, JDK Travel and Tours – registered only as a travel and tour entity – was engaged to provide accommodation despite having no lodging licence.

The same firm also invoiced GH¢45.7 million for vehicle transportation, with overpricing of GH¢13.1 million and a further GH¢2.2 million bloated invoice, also branded and de-branded vehicles, leading to GH¢2 million overpricing.

Unjustified charges

Fourteen major service contracts, covering anti-doping (GH¢10.4m), accommodation (GH¢88.3m), catering (GH¢146.1m), air tickets (GH¢10.9m), and transportation (GH¢42.1m) – worth a total of GH¢336.6 million were awarded at fixed lump sums despite the services being inherently variable.

The audit found no reconciliation controls: no rooming lists, meal registers, passenger manifests or transport logs.

The entire GH¢336.6 million was committed and paid with no verifiable link to actual services consumed.

There were similar irregularities with catering.

Auditors also flagged irregular cash withdrawals of GH¢20.4 million from LOC accounts, while GH¢15.1 million from LOC accounts was used for non-Games activities, including advance salary payments to Black Stars coaches and officials.

The contracts also had approximately GH¢2.7 billion being awarded on sole sourcing without any documented justification as required by law. 

Inspections

Physical inspections the auditors conducted of five major Games facilities revealed widespread defects. 

The audit identified common beneficial ownership among several companies that received Games contracts, raising concerns about undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Total related-party exposure stood at GH¢150.6 million.