The National Democratic Congress Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi Esq. has raised alarm bells over the staggering budget allocation for Ghana’s participation in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Mr Gyamfi in long tale article strongly asserted that President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party administration’s allocation of $8.5 million (GHS105 million) is the second-highest in Ghana’s AFCON history, emphasizing the dire economic situation faced by Ghanaians.
The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress Sammy Gyamfi provided a comparative analysis of Ghana’s AFCON budgets from 2012 to 2023, highlighting a significant increase from $5 million in 2012 to the highest ever budget of $9.7 million in 2021.
According to him, the 2023 allocation for the Ghana Black Stars, though lower than 2021, is deemed excessive in light of economic challenges, unemployment, taxation, and high living costs facing the country.
“Subsequent to the publication of the humongous budget allocation for Ghana’s participation in the 2023 AFCON by the hard working Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, I have noted that some New Patriotic Party apologists and their media surrogates have resorted to a campaign of subterfuge, ostensibly to justify this scandalous and mind-boggling revelation.
“In a desperate attempt to justify the gargantuan budgetary allocation of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government following Ghana’s embarrassing exit from the 2023 AFCON, these NPP apologists and their media hirelings have dabbled in all manner of deceptive analysis of equalization and rationalization without any reasonable basis”.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq.
Mr Gyamfi comparing Ghana’s budget allocation to other countries who are participating in the tournament indicated that countries, such as Namibia, Zambia, and Nigeria budget allocations reveal stark disparities with that of Ghana.
He specifically noted that Namibia budgeted $1.1 million while Zambia allocated $2 million, and Nigeria, with a stronger football infrastructure, budgeted only $1.3 million and thus questioned why Ghana, facing economic difficulties, would allocate such a colossal amount for the tournament.
“Claims that the erstwhile Mahama/NDC administration budgeted the highest amounts for previous AFCON competitions are completely false and should be treated with utmost contempt. A cursory analysis of the budgetary allocations of other participating countries in the ongoing 2023 AFCON tournament, goes to confirm how wasteful and irresponsible the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has been in these perilous times of extreme economic difficulty”.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq.
Sammy Gyamfi Dismisses Claims Of Higher AFCON Expenses Under NDC Government
Furthermore, Sammy Gyamfi dismissed claims by some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that previous AFCON expenses under the National Democratic Congress under former President John Dramani Mahama’s administration were higher, arguing that expenses of participating countries in the tournament are mostly contingent on a country’s performance.
According to him, any comparison of AFCON expenses that doesn’t take into cognizance the stage the country reached in the tournaments under comparison, is utterly ‘useless’ and ‘nonsensical’.
Mr Gyamfi further criticized the misleading use of data from 2019 by JoySports, urging a retraction of the publication that falsely claimed Ghana spent $15 million in the 2013 AFCON.
The National Democratic Congress Communications Officer also posited that record available shows that the National Democratic Congress administration led by former President John Dramani Mahama took a decision to slash the Ghana Football Association’s budget of $8 million for the 2013 AFCON by half.
“For instance, it is ridiculous to compare Ghana’s 2021 AFCON expenditure of $2.5 million, to Ghana’s 2015 AFCON expenditure of $5.8 million because, whereas the Black Stars progressed to the finals in the 2015 AFCON, they were eliminated at the group stages in 2021.
“It is noteworthy, that Ghana reached the semi-finals of the 2012 and 2013 AFCON tournaments and played in the finals of the 2010 and 2015 AFCONs (all under the previous NDC administration). A simplistic comparison of the country’s total expenditure at these tournaments, with expenses at subsequent tournaments where Ghana was eliminated at the group stages or at the quarter final stage, is preposterous to say the least”.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq.
Moreover, Sammy Gyamfi argued that contrary to claims that the $8.5 million is a mere budgetary allocation, the Finance Minister instructed the release of $5 million for Ghana’s preparations in which such disbused amount has already been used by the Ghana Football Association.
Mr Gyamfi further alleged that the $5 million released to Ghana Football Association as budget allocation for the Black Stars is completely different from the $400 that was given by the current administration to each of the numerous supporters of the ruling New Patriotic Party, who were transported to Cote D’Ivoire to cheer the Black Stars.
Mr Gyamfi thus expressed concern over the dissipation of funds on appearance fees, bonuses, and other expenses, and therefore called for a bipartisan probe into the 2023 AFCON budget and related expenditures for the Black Stars.
He also called on some supports of the ruling New Patriotic Party and the media to redirect their focus from ‘baseless equalizations’ and to advocate for a thorough investigation into the ‘scandalous’ 2023 AFCON budget of the Black Stars.
He emphasized that the investigation is crucial to understanding the Black Stars’ ‘shambolic’ performance and preventing further embarrassment to the nation in future endeavors.
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