13th African Games was monumental disaster, total embarrassment – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has labelled the just-ended 13th African Games held in Accra as a “monumental disaster and total embarrassment”, despite the nation recording its largest-ever medal haul of 68 medals.

Kobena Mensah Woyome, the Ranking Member on the Youth and Sports Committee of Parliament, while addressing journalists on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, heavily criticized the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government for what he described as a shambolic organisation of the African Games.

Mr. Woyome highlighted the poor organization, lack of clear policies for tourism promotion and trade facilitation, and the absence of economic viability strategies despite the hefty $240 million spent on the event.

He stated that the games could have served as tourism to facilitate trade in generating funds for the country considering the expenditure spent on the Games.

Woyome emphasized that the current state of the Ghanaian economy, which he claimed has been “rendered bankrupt” by the government, only added to the concerns raised by Ghanaians regarding the significant expenditure on the Games.

“The just-ended games were a monumental disaster and total embarrassment to our dear country. The Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government spent a staggering 240 million dollars on the just-ended games yet, the organization and management of the event were poor and shambolic.

“Quite apart from the fact that it lacked the clear combined effect of economic viability, the organization of the games lacked clear-cut policies for tourism promotion and trade facilitation. This could have given us some economic value for the huge expenditure on the game.

“Given the current state of the Ghanaian economy, which has been rendered bankrupt by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government. Emerging details about the hefty expenditure of the games raised concerns among Ghanaians.”

-citinewsroom