Auditor-General orders NSA to refund GH¢180,494

The Auditor-General has asked the National Sports Authority (NSA) to refund GH¢180,494 used for the 2017 National Sports Festival to the management of the Baba Yara Stadium for the replacement of broken seats.

The directive followed a revelation that the NSA surcharged the Ghana Education Service (GES) GH¢203,688 to replace seats which were damaged during an inter-college sports competition at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.

A performance audit report by the Auditor-General on the Sustainability of Sports Stadia in Ghana in 2019 found out that although the said amount was paid by the GES, the seats were not fixed. Rather, the NSA used GH¢180,494 out of the total amount to organise the 2017 National Sports Festival.

NSA’s reaction

Reacting to the report in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, the Director-General of the NSA, Prof. Peter Twumasi, said it was misleading to separate the regional office of the NSA from the head office.

He said the said money was used to organise the National Sports Festival in 2017 at the same venue after some organisations had failed to redeem sponsorship pledges for the competition.

"All the accounts of the NSA offices nationwide are linked to the head office accounts in Accra and they require the green light of the head office to apply such funds," Prof. Twumasi said.

"The Auditor is right that if that work has not been carried out, then the NSA must make sure that we find funds to get it done for them, but as we speak, we have secured funds to renovate the entire stadium."

He said extensive renovation works at the facility, which commenced in February this year ahead of the 63rd national Independence Day celebrations, were on course to be completed in October this year.

Prof. Twumasi, who was appointed in December 2018, explained that the money was spent on the National Sports Festival by the former management of the NSA, led by Mr Robert Sarfo-Mensah, a year before he assumed office.

Period and scope of audit

The audit was carried out from August 2017 to December 2018 at the Ministry of Youth and Sports and National Sports Authority and covered the period 2012 to 2018.

The audit focused on oversight responsibilities, maintenance and revenue generation of five national stadia, namely; Baba Yara Stadium, Accra Stadium, Essipon Stadium, Tamale Stadium and the Cape Coast Stadium.

Read the entire audit below;