PAC Fumes Over Undocumented GH₵35.8m Bill for 6,000 Police Officers at African Games

• The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament grilled the Ministry of Sports and Recreation on Monday, May 18, 2026, over a GH₵35.8 million reimbursement request
• The staggering amount was claimed for the deployment of 6,000 police officers during the 2023 African Games hosted in Accra, but it lacked any receipts, invoices, or supporting records
• LOC Executive Chairman threw the police under the bus, claiming the security service dropped the heavy bill "out of nowhere" at the end of the tournament and failed to justify it

The fallout from Ghana’s hosting of the 13th African Games has taken a highly dramatic turn at the Parliament House, exposing a massive loophole in how state revenue is tracked and managed during high-profile sporting events.

During a tense PAC sitting on Monday, Ranking Member Samuel Atta-Mills expressed utter disbelief at how the Ministry of Sports could forward a multi-million-cedi claim to the Ministry of Finance without verifying where the money actually went.

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Sports Ministry defend spending

Defending the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Dr Kwaku Ofosu-Asare shared that organisers were left blindsided by the financial demands of the Ghana Police Service.

According to him, the police were initially tasked to assist with security as part of their national duty, and the LOC even handled their feeding costs directly during the early stages of the three-week tournament.

"Then they later pulled out. Out of nowhere, at the end of the event, they submitted this bill," Dr Ofosu-Asare testified, stating the total claim exceeded GH₵37 million, with only GH₵2 million currently validated.

"I wrote to them asking them to justify such a huge amount, but they could not provide any justification. I was shocked to the marrow by the kind of bill they presented," the LOC boss added.

Watch the X video below.

Reactions on Sport Ministry's spending on Police

The explosive PAC hearing has triggered intense criticism from citizens who view the situation as an example of unchecked state mismanagement:

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@bhimnationmalta wrote:

"We are a joke as a country, putting this country in the hands of reckless thieves. If nobody goes to jail for this, the streets will have to speak. A civilian steals a tuber of cassava and gets 10 years, but a politician loots millions, and it's called 'mismanagement'."

@akokc_ commented:

"Money that they could use to pay part of our national loans or fix basic hospitals, they squandered it for free. GH₵35.8 million for security services that were reportedly cut short? Incredible."

@IsraelJack39033 added:

"We will never move forward as a nation because both major parties treat these events like a personal harvest. They just play with Ghanaians' minds while the treasury bleeds."

@bakieomar9 stated:

"Then if the Local Organising Committee and the Sports Ministry can't account for millions of taxpayers' money, the officials who signed off on it need to be held directly and legally responsible."

Source: YEN.com.gh