Tamale, Jan. 02, GNA - The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, on Wednesday condemned the Tamale Venue Organising Committee (TVOC) on their mode of recruitment of volunteers for the Ghana 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

He has therefore asked the TVOC to lay off the current recruited volunteers, particularly the media assistants and ordered that fresh volunteers with the requisite experience and good backgrounds should be appointed within a week to bring sanity during the games at the Tamale venue.

Alhaji Idris said this when addressing major parties involved in the organisation of the CAN 2008 in Tamale Metropolis made up contractors, the Venue Organising Committee members and members of the press and the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly.

The Minister said those recruited as volunteers should be investigated on their backgrounds to ensure that they do not serve as "agents" of armed robbers while ensuring that the girls chosen for the event do not take advantage of the games to engage in prostitution. Alhaji Idris said about 5,000 to 10,000 visitors were expected for the event in the Region and stressed on the need to recruit people who were actually qualified to do the job, adding that it should not be based on "who you know", or else it would defeat its purpose. He questioned, "How do you recruit some one who has no idea or knowledge about media work to serve as media assistant to media persons coming to the country."

Alhaji Idris said there were a lot of students from the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the Tamale Polytechnic who could be recruited with their good communication skills to serve as volunteers to raise the image of the tournament and the Region.

"I even understand that someone who was barred from entering the stadium because of bad behaviour was allowed to take part in training of the volunteers. I wonder what training they would receive," he stressed and also condemned the organisers for using the stadium for the training of the volunteers.

There have been several concerns by the public in the Tamale Metropolis about the mode of recruitment and the attitude of some of the officers in charge of recruitment.

They particularly condemned the mode of selection for the selection and training of the media assistants with many of them calling for fresh recruitment to ensure that lay people do not disgrace the journalism profession during the tournament.