2023 African Games forensic audit: Mustapha Ussif, William Kartey, Kwaku Ofosu-Asare recommended for recovery actions and sanctions
A forensic audit commissioned by President John Dramani Mahama in 2025 on the African Games organised and hosted in Ghana in 2023 has revealed widespread cost inflation, irregular payments, and unsupported expenditure across contracts linked to the event.
The 700-page audit report has revealed that Ghana’s hosting of the 13th African Games in 2023 was marred by financial irregularities totalling GH¢580,042,347.40, with pervasive overpricing, unqualified contractors, ghost equipment, and systematic circumvention of procurement laws implicating three former top officials.
The Auditor-General has since submitted the audit report to Parliament.
The report, referenced AG.SAR/2026/03 and signed by Auditor-General Johnson Akuamoah-Asiedu, was carried out pursuant to Section 16 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) and a formal request from the Office of the President dated October 22, 2025.
It covers every operational, financial, and technical dimension of the Games, from procurement and contract management to infrastructure delivery, broadcasting, and post-Games asset management.
A total of GH¢2,245,515,037.44 was received and spent on the Games from various sources, including government releases, sponsorships, and participation fees.
Despite this, the audit revealed an outstanding liability of GH¢208,583,739.49 as at the date of the report, comprising GH¢155,123,020.15, USD $4,118,155.65, and EUR 288,775.11.
Three former officials, a former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, William Kartey former Chief Director of the Ministry, and Dr Kwaku Ofosu-Asare (former Chairman of the Local Organising Committee), are consistently recommended for recovery actions and sanctions across virtually every finding in the report.
Overpriced contracts
Among the financial findings is the revelation that the Ministry of Sports paid GH¢38.9 million to Messrs Delovely Company Ltd under a sports equipment contract valued at $3.24 million, yet equipment worth $206,000 covering Table Tennis, Badminton and Handball was never supplied.
An additional lump-sum item of $408,000 labelled simply as "Sports Equipment" lacked any specifications or supporting documentation.
The audit determined that the revised payable contract value should have been $2.62 million, placing the overpayment at $374,000 (approximately GH¢4.5 million).
Anti-doping tests conducted by Omni Specialty Product Limited were procured at €739,000 — but benchmarking against WADA-accredited laboratory rates revealed that unit prices significantly exceeded prevailing market rates.
The resulting price overcharge amounted to €572,000 (approximately GH¢8.0 million).
The audit also found that accommodation for Games officials was contracted through JDK Travel and Tours at $150 per room per night for 500 rooms over 21 days, totalling $1.58 million.
Market verification however showed that official hotel rates for the listed properties ranged between $50 and $70 per room, putting the justifiable total at approximately $735,000. The inflated component alone amounted to $840,000 (approximately GH¢10.1 million).
JDK Travel: unqualified firm paid GH¢18.9m
In a particularly glaring case, JDK Travel and Tours — registered as a travel and tour entity — was engaged to provide accommodation services despite having no accommodation licensing and operating merely as an intermediary.
Two of the hotels it listed could not be independently verified. JDK was paid $1.58 million (approximately GH¢18.9 million) for these services.
The same entity also invoiced GH¢45.7 million under two vehicle transportation contracts — GH¢22.6 million for the main contract and GH¢23.1 million for additional services.
Benchmark comparison against market rental rates revealed significant inflation across vehicle categories and usage periods, with the total overpricing identified amounting to GH¢13.1 million. A further GH¢2.2 million was found to constitute a bloated invoice following an audit recomputation of actual quantities and usage frequencies.
JDK was also paid GH¢3.16 million for branding and de-branding of Games vehicles under a lump-sum contract.
Market benchmarking established that comparable services should have cost GH¢1.16 million — resulting in overpricing of GH¢2.0 million.
GH¢337million committed without delivery verification
The audit uncovered a systemic flaw in the structure of 14 major service contracts: they were awarded at fixed predetermined lump sums for services that were inherently variable in nature — services such as anti-doping tests (GH¢10.4m), accommodation (GH¢88.3m), catering (GH¢146.1m), air tickets (GH¢10.9m), and transportation (GH¢42.1m). The total value of these contracts was GH¢336.6 million. Contract files revealed no reconciliation controls — no rooming lists, meal registers, passenger manifests, transport logs, or test documentation to link payments to actual quantities delivered. The result: GH¢336.6 million was committed and paid without any verifiable alignment between contract sums and actual services consumed.
Catering: $2.8million in unjustified charges
The pre-Games cost summary submitted by caterer L&M included non-feeding cost components totalling $2.83 million — broken down as Transport and Logistics ($87,000), Utilities ($542,000), Infrastructure and Equipment ($1.29 million), Staffing ($573,000), and Project Management and Administration ($339,000). These cost elements were embedded within the catering contract without supporting schedules, cost build-ups, or independent verification of necessity. The inclusion of these items, which clearly overlapped with services contracted to other providers, rendered the amount unjustified.
Related parties: GH¢150.6million exposure
The audit identified what it described as "Common Beneficial Owner and Related-Party Exposure" amounting to GH¢150.6 million. Several companies that received contracts for the Games were found to share common ownership or beneficial control, raising concerns about undisclosed conflicts of interest and anti-competitive award practices in the procurement process.
GH¢20.4m in suspicious cash withdrawals
Auditors flagged irregular and high-risk cash withdrawals amounting to GH¢20.4 million from the Local Organising Committee (LOC) accounts. Payments were made in cash to third parties in violation of mandatory Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) requirements, and significant transactions were processed outside Ghana's Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), circumventing its financial controls. The LOC's accounts were also found to have been used to make payments totalling GH¢15.1 million for activities entirely unrelated to the hosting of the 13th African Games — including advance salary payments and other disbursements to officials and staff of the Black Stars national football team, including the Head Coach and Assistant Coach.
GBC broadcasting: millions lost, training never delivered
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) also features prominently in the audit's findings. The state broadcaster engaged service providers for work totalling approximately GH¢3.56 million without formal contracts. Delayed Public Procurement Authority (PPA) ratification and procurement irregularities were found across its Games-related engagements. In what the audit described as a particularly irregular transaction, GBC paid €57,000 (approximately GH¢684,000) to The Production Room (TPR) under a training contract. Audit interviews and document review found no evidence whatsoever of training delivery — no schedules, attendance records, training materials, or certification documents — and no proof that the engagement contributed anything to the Games broadcast. The contract was paid 100% in advance without competitive procurement, a needs assessment, or any deliverable-based safeguards. The audit further estimated that GBC lost $4.96 million (approximately GH¢59.5 million) in potential revenue from poor broadcast management and marketing of the Games — due largely to leadership failures in managing GBC's role in the event.
Defective infrastructure: $1m needed for repairs
Physical inspections of the five major Games infrastructure projects revealed widespread construction defects, including concrete cold joints, slab cracking, poor compaction, inadequate waterproofing, corrosion of fittings, unsealed penetrations, drainage failures, and incomplete works at facilities including the Aquatic Centre, Legon Stadium, temporary kitchen facilities, and Achimota Pavilion. Post-construction assessments further revealed progressive cracking, material degradation, and latent defects attributable to workmanship deficiencies, poor detailing, inadequate supervision, and insufficient quality assurance during execution. The cumulative rectification requirement is estimated at not less than $1.0 million (approximately GH¢12.0 million).
At the flagship Borteyman Sports Complex, an engineering analysis of the variation order — dubbed the "May Action Plan" — found that works omitted from the original scope amounted to $49.3 million while additions totalled only $14.9 million, resulting in a net loss of $34.4 million (23.8% of the contract value) that was absorbed to settle claims for time extensions, tax reimbursements, and delayed invoices. At the University of Ghana Stadium, five variations increased the contract from $34.1 million to $37.0 million, with auditors identifying avoidable and irregular claims totalling $2.8 million, including interest on delayed payments and prolongation costs approved outside standard EPC risk allocation.
GH¢2.7bn in single-sourced contracts — no justification
One of the most structurally alarming findings in the report relates to the near-total absence of competitive procurement. Single-source procurement contracts worth approximately GH¢2.7 billion were awarded without any documented justification being provided, as required by law. Separate from this, the PPA itself is noted to have "reluctantly accepted" single-source contracts worth GH¢18.0 million, and also imposed a mandatory 10% (and in some cases 5%) reduction on contract sums totalling GH¢16.6 million — indicating that the Authority itself had concerns about the reasonableness of costs submitted.
Legacy squandered, future Games at risk
Beyond the financial irregularities, the audit highlights serious concerns about Ghana's post-Games legacy. Physical inspections showed the Games facilities are in a deteriorating state, with poor handover arrangements and inadequate asset management. The Legacy Sub-Committee, which was mandated to transform the infrastructure into a University of Sport for Development, was found to have been effectively non-functional during the Games itself and has since been dissolved without achieving its mandate. The report also flags outstanding financial obligations under the Host Agreement with the African Union Commission (AUC) — obligations whose non-fulfilment, auditors warn, could jeopardise Ghana's eligibility to participate in or host future editions of the African Games.
Recovery recommended from three officials
Across all its findings, the audit consistently recommends recovery of irregularly spent funds from Mustapha Ussif (former Minister for Youth and Sports), William Kartey (former Chief Director), and Dr. Kwaku Ofosu-Asare (former LOC Chairman). In the case of JDK Travel and Tours, auditors further recommend that the three officials be sanctioned under Section 92 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended.
The Auditor-General's conclusion leaves little room for ambiguity: "The magnitude, recurrence, and cross-cutting nature of the irregularities indicate that these were not isolated lapses but structural deficiencies in institutional control environments," he stated, recommending that Government treat the findings as a catalyst for structural reform. Responding to the findings, management responses attached as Appendix VII to the report indicate varying levels of acceptance and contestation of individual findings.
