Sports Ministry paid $2.5m directly to GBC – Mustapha Ussif

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has disclosed that $2.5 million was paid directly to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) for televising the 2023 African Games.

In a statement signed by the sector minister, Mustapha Ussif, it was indicated that “$1 million and $1.5 million were paid to GBC on March 13, 2024, and May 22, 2024, respectively.”

The statement further clarified that an “amount of $1 million was paid to third parties upon the instructions of GBC following the contract.”

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, August 19, 2024, Ussif stated, “GBC was the official broadcaster for the 13th African Games, and I can confirm that full payment has been made to GBC.”

Although he could not specify the total amount, he mentioned, “I can’t recall the exact amount, but I know it exceeds $3 million.”

However, the Director-General of GBC, Prof. Amin Alhassan, clarified that the state media house received only $105,000, not $3 million, as stated by the Sports Minister.

“We facilitated payments to foreign third parties who handled the production, not for the benefit of GBC. GBC’s share, I repeat, was $105,000, and that is what we received.”

Despite this, the Ministry insists that payments were made to third parties only on GBC’s instructions after an agreement was reached and signed.

Reportedly, some media organisations quoted $6 million to produce the events, but the Ministry chose GBC due to their lower quote of $3.6 million. The agreement signed with GBC was based on the understanding that the state broadcaster would engage the services of third parties to assist them in fulfilling their obligations. The total agreed-upon amount was $3.6 million.

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