2023 African Games expenditure issues enormous — Ernest Norgbey

The Chairperson of Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, Ernest Henry Norgbey, says the committee uncovered “enormous” issues relating to expenditure and procurement processes during its earlier review of matters connected to the 2023 African Games.

According to him, the latest audit reports currently in the public domain largely confirm concerns that the committee had already identified during its own engagements with officials responsible for organising the Games.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, May 26, Mr. Norgbey said Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee had previously invited the leadership of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and other officials for discussions after concerns emerged over expenditure patterns linked to the Games.

“We invited the LOC chairman and the entire committee to Alisa Hotel somewhere last year and we delved into matters and we realised that the issues were enormous,” he stated.

He explained that the seriousness of the concerns prompted the parliamentary committee to consider holding a public hearing into the matter.

According to him, the committee’s preliminary assessment uncovered multiple alleged irregularities, including over-invoicing, inflated catering costs, single-source procurement concerns, overpricing, and inadequate supporting documentation for some transactions.

“At the committee level, we identified almost all the things that were captured in the report — over invoicing, catering services, single source procurement, overpricing, and no supporting documentation to some of the transactions,” he said.

He added,“We decided as a committee to have a public hearing on the matter, and within the same week, the President directed that the appropriate investigative authority should pick up the mandate to investigate it properly.”

The Sports Committee Chair further alleged that, during the committee’s inquiry, responsibility for many of the questioned transactions appeared to be concentrated among a small number of officials. “These things were all done by only three people at the time we were investigating — the LOC chairman, the Minister, and probably the Chief Director,” he claimed.

Mr. Norgbey said the committee is now awaiting the outcome of the next stage of investigations after reports that the President has directed the Attorney General to take up the matter.

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)