On 17 October 2014, Minister of
Youth and Sports, Mr. Mahama
Ayariga, announced that Ghana is
ready to stage the African Cup of
Nations (AFCON) competition slated
for January and February 2015. The
original host, Morocco has officially
written to the Confederation of
African Football (CAF) saying it is
no longer interested in hosting the
competition because of the
ravaging cases of Ebola and the
WHO's heightened risk alerts of the
disease spreading through social
gatherings such as the tournament.
For the same reason, South Africa,
the other country aside Ghana CAF
approached as alternative hosts,
has issued a strongly worded letter
that it cannot welcome Ebola from
potential participating nations
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ghana, which has a less developed
healthcare system than Morocco
and South Africa, should not
volunteer or accept to host AFCON
2015. The Ghana Medical
Association (GMA) strongly advises
against it. The GMA and millions of
Ghanaians remain unconvinced of
our state of preparedness
considering our shameful inability
to cope with even treatable
cholera, which has affected
thousands and killed several
hundreds of Ghanaians. Ebola is
not kind to a disorganised
healthcare system as we have in
Ghana. It kills almost all of its
victims. Any government that
entertains the thought of importing
Ebola is an uncaring one and
should be resisted.
Besides Ebola, here are 5 very good
reasons why Ghana should not
even be thinking of hosting AFCON
2015.
1. INCOMPETENCE AND
CORRUPTION AT THE GHANA
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.
Management of Ghana Football
Association, its hirelings and Black
Stars players have given first-hand
accounts of mismanagement of
resources in the run up to and
during the World Cup in Brazil. We
have not heard the last of the
successively organised
mismanagement by the GFA as well
as the troubling Maputo Report
which contained similar
humongously corrupt acts. Instead
of rushing to host another
tournament, the GFA and the
Ministry of Sports should be
focusing on rebuilding Ghana's
tattered reputation in international
sports.
2. A CULTURE OF
UNACCOUNTABILITY AND
MISMANAGEMENT AT THE
MINISTRY OF SPORTS.
The Dzamefe Commission is still
sitting and uncovering the sheer
rot and waste of the taxpayer's
money in Brazil. The nation had a
collective gasp at the incredulity of
a private person spending $20,000
of our money in Brazil to seek
directions to a groceries market.
Until and unless the many cases of
financial mismanagement are
explained, those responsible dealt
with as prescribed by law, and
robust systems and processes put
in place to stop their recurrence,
the Sports Ministry cannot be
trusted with the execution of any
international sporting event.
3. OUR HUGE FISCAL DEFICIT.
Ghana’s fiscal deficit stands at
Ghc10bn. Government is spending
more than it can afford so much so
that critical services such as health
and education are not receiving
their statutory funding. There was
no parliament-approved budget in
2015 for AFCON. In the face of huge
Eurobond borrowing as well as an
imminent IMF bailout, there is no
financial justification for a single
pesewa of government’s already
scarce revenues being spent on an
avoidable, unnecessary,
unbudgeted leisure event. The
Fiscal indiscipline must stop. Just
as households have been forced to
tighten their belts in these harsh
economic times, government must
also tighten its belt and refuse to
accommodate all budget over-runs,
especially discretionary especially
discretionary, leisure-laden ones!
4. DUMSOR or its more current
rendition, A-DUMDUM-A-DUMDUM.
The Ministry of Energy has given
up on managing the little power it
has inefficiently left us with as we
now have full 24-hour power
outages running several days in a
week. The cost of business soars
as a consequence – it is not only
5-star internationally branded
hotels but the small kiosk
hairdresser who now also requires
a diesel generator to stay in
business. Our manufacturing sector
cannot compete at the low cost of
production of foreign competitors
whose products flood our markets,
which is in part due to the higher
cost and unreliability of power in
Ghana.
For the duration of a sporting event
such as AFCON, electricity demand
will surge as people gather in front
of TVs at precisely the same time
of day to watch games. Our erratic
and low supply cannot cope with
such demand without switching off
power to the productive sectors of
the economy, and by it, negatively
affecting economic output and
growth.
5. MISPLACED PRIORITIES.
This and previous governments of
our dear Republic of Ghana need to
understand a fact: FOOTBALL IS
NOT A MATTER OF LIFE AND
DEATH. Football is not a developing
nation’s greatest priority. The
breaking of Bank of Ghana rules,
the flouting of Ghana Revenue
Authority laws, the disregard of
international money laundering best
practice guidelines to ferry $4m in
cash to footballers and to pay the
expenses of party foot soldiers in
Brazil while turning off power to
VALCO because of a football game,
all show grossly and
embarrassingly misplaced
priorities. We elected the
government to prioritize education,
health, sanitation, transport,
energy, to keep our currency stable
and inflation low, to create an
enabling environment for private
business to thrive. Football did not
appear in any 2012 political party
manifesto as a matter of national
priority: stop making it so.
In summary, even if there was no
Ebola epidemic, AFCON 2015 is not
our headache. Why is our
government contemplating forcing
Ghanaians to swallow bitter
medicine for someone else’s
headache? We shall not allow you
to force this down our throats.
The Minster of Youth and Sports'
position opens himself up to
accusations of attempted
corruption. There can be no
justification for taking on AFCON
2015 for all the reasons elucidated
above other than another
opportunity for some to also create
loot and share and probably cry.
Our strong disapproval for AFCON
2015 in Ghana will be expressed
directly to CAF and FIFA. Perhaps
they will see sense sooner than
Government of Ghana to withdraw
their ill-thought out request.
#occupy_Ghana
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