Hon. Habib Iddrisu, Member of Parliament for Tolon and First Deputy Minority Whip, has accused the Minister for Youth and Sports of failing to brief Parliament on the Black Stars’ World Cup preparations while secretly sponsoring supporters despite presidential assurances to the contrary.
Contributing in the House, the Tolon MP stated that the lack of disclosure breaks precedent.
“When we’re going to Qatar, the minister briefed Parliament before we went. When we’re going to Ivory Coast for AFCON, the minister briefed Parliament,” he said. “But in this instant, the minister responsible for youth and sports did not brief Parliament on anything.”
Hon. Iddrisu informed Parliament that lawmakers lack details regarding the team’s plans.
“We don’t know the preparation. We don’t know where they are training. We don’t know where they are camping. We don’t know the budget,” he said.
“Parliament of Ghana is a representative of the thirty million plus Ghanaians that we have. So when we are briefed it means that Ghanaians are briefed. So in effect it means that the minister have not briefed Ghanaians.”
The MP questioned why supporters were being sponsored following the President’s public statement that the government would not fund fans for the World Cup.
He alleged that the Ghana Supporters Union was allocated 90 slots for visa applications sponsored by the Sports Ministry. Of those, he noted, 72 went to the embassy and only 31 were granted visas.
Hon. Iddrisu claimed Majority caucus MPs were each given two slots “for them to be sponsored to the World Cup,” whilst Minority MPs received none.
“The majority side, they selectively gave them two people each… No minority MP have been given,” he stated.
He added that constituencies were also allocated three slots each, claiming that individuals were being screened at Bothema Park before visiting the US Embassy and other embassies for visas.
The MP stated that the government purchased 1,000 tickets from the GFA for the World Cup and demanded clarity on the funding source.
“Visa fee we know is about a hundred and eighty-five dollars per person. Where is that money coming from?” he asked.
He also cited a statement by the Ambassador to Canada regarding the collation of names of Ghanaian residents in Ottawa to support the team’s match against Panama in Toronto.
“How many tickets are they given to the people in Toronto? Who pay for the tickets? And how much does the ticket cost?”
Hon. Iddrisu warned that poor screening of visa applicants was damaging Ghana’s reputation.
“If you go to the American embassy today, over thousand people that have applied, they have issued less than hundred visas… when they do things like that it dents the image of Ghana.”
He called on the Minister and the government to explain why Parliament was not briefed, why supporters were being sponsored contrary to the President’s directive, and why slots were allocated along partisan lines.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
