Public Accounts Committee questions GH¢35.8million police bill for 2023 African Games

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has questioned a GH¢35.8 million reimbursement claim submitted to the Ministry of Finance in relation to the deployment of 6,000 police personnel during the 2023 African Games in Accra after it emerged that no supporting documents were attached to the request.

The committee raised the issue during proceedings on Monday [May 18, 2026] when officials from the Ministry of Sports and Recreation appeared to respond to issues contained in the Auditor-General’s report.

The Ranking Member, Samuel Atta-Mills, questioned how such an amount could be paid without records to support the expenditure.

“There are unsupported claims amounting to GH¢35.8 million for just 6,000 police officers during the African Games. GH¢35.8 million was spent in 2024 on police officers alone, yet there is no documentation to support the expenditure. How is that possible?” he asked.

The Executive Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2023 African Games, Dr Kwaku Ofosu-Asare, told the committee that the police were initially expected to provide security support while the LOC catered for officers during the early stages of the event.

“Initially, the police officers were only supposed to assist in carrying out security duties. We were even feeding them at first, but later they pulled out. Then, out of nowhere, at the end of the event, they submitted this bill,” Dr Ofosu-Asare said.

He added that he later wrote to the police administration requesting a breakdown and justification for the amount but did not receive a satisfactory explanation.

“I wrote to them asking them to justify such a huge amount, but they could not provide any justification,” he said.

The committee also raised concerns over another GH¢455,000 accommodation bill presented to the Sports Ministry in connection with the Games. Members noted that no receipts, invoices or related documents had been attached to support the claim.

Mr Atta-Mills also commented on recurring irregularities at the ministry.

“There was a time when the Ministry of Sports changed ministers almost every year. If we still cannot understand this duplication and these irregularities, then I don't see why only the minister should be changed every year,” he said.

The proceedings formed part of the committee’s review of the Special Audit Report of the Auditor-General on government outstanding claims and commitments as of December 31, 2024.

The police deployment covered the period from the start of the Games on March 8, 2024, to the end of the event on March 23, 2024.