Entertainment of Thursday, 22 August 2024

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Thieves and criminals - Kumchacha berates sports ministry over $3m African Games saga

L-R Mustapha Ussif and Kumchacha play videoL-R Mustapha Ussif and Kumchacha

The founder of Heaven’s Gate Ministries, Nicholas Osei, popularly known as Kumchacha has criticized the Ministry of Youth and Sports over the controversy surrounding the appropriation of $3 million during the 13th All African Games hosted in Ghana. 

He condemned the ministry for its poor accountability of state funds, calling the officials involved "thieves."

Kumchacha expressed his frustration with the ministry's inability to justify the expenditure, particularly the $3 million supposedly spent on broadcasting issues. 

He emphasized the need for divine intervention to address such corruption, highlighting the suffering of the youth, lack of street lights, and poor road conditions as consequences of misused state funds.

In a video shared by Trends GH TV on YouTube, Kumchacha said in Twi, "How can the sports ministry spend over $3 million on broadcasting issues, and we are struggling to find out how it was spent? It is high time God deals with such corrupt people. 

"Our leaders always look fresh and nice, yet they are criminals and thieves causing us pain through corruption. When a pastor talks about corruption, some people say focus on the Bible, but we need to speak out about the rot."

Background:

The controversy began when the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, claimed that his ministry paid over $3 million to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) during his appearance before the Public Accounts Committee. 

However, Professor Amin Alhassan, Director-General of GBC, denied receiving this amount, stating that the state broadcaster only earned $105,000 from the African Games.

In response, the Ministry of Youth and Sports released a statement on August 21, 2024, detailing the African Games broadcast rights deal with GBC, which amounted to $3.6 million. 

According to the ministry, $2.5 million was paid to GBC in two installments, and $1 million was paid to a third party upon GBC's instructions.

"From the total amount, $2.5 million was paid directly to GBC in two tranches: $1 million and $1.5 million on March 13, 2024, and May 22, 2024, respectively. 

Another amount of $1 million was paid to third parties upon the instructions of GBC, in accordance with the contract," the statement explained.

Watch the video below:



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