The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of allocating World Cup travel slots to National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament and party supporters while failing to account to Parliament on Ghana’s preparations for the tournament.
Addressing a press briefing, Deputy Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Tolon, Habib Iddrisu, alleged that each NDC MP had been allocated two slots, while every NDC constituency had been given three slots to facilitate visa applications for the FIFA World Cup.
“Government is giving NDC MPs two slots and allocating three slots to every NDC constituency,” he alleged.
According to Mr. Iddrisu, the alleged beneficiaries were being sponsored to attend visa interviews at the United States Embassy, raising questions about the source of the funding.
“They have sponsored people to go to the embassy. How many people have they sponsored to go to the embassy? Visa fee we know is about 185 dollars per person. Where is that money coming from? So the minister and government need to answer and respond to some of these questions,” he said.
The MP also criticised the Ministry of Youth and Sports for, in his view, failing to provide Parliament and the public with details of Ghana’s preparations for the Black Stars’ participation in the tournament.
“Why is the government and the Ministry for Youth and Sports running away from briefing Parliament or briefing Ghanaians on the preparation of the Black Stars towards the World Cup?” he asked.
He further questioned what he described as conflicting messages from government, saying the President had indicated that the state would not sponsor supporters to the tournament, yet supporters’ groups and party affiliates were allegedly receiving allocations.
“Why is it the case that they said they are not sponsoring supporters to go to the World Cup? And why are they giving supporters’ unions slots? Why are they giving NDC MPs two slots? And why are they giving their constituencies… slots for people to be sponsored to the embassy?” he queried.
Mr. Iddrisu claimed the alleged arrangement could affect Ghana’s reputation, alleging that many visa applicants had been denied visas due to inadequate screening.
He also demanded that the Sports Minister appear before Parliament to disclose the number of match tickets procured for the tournament, the amount of money raised through donations towards Ghana’s participation, and how those funds had been utilised.
Drawing comparisons with the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, Mr. Iddrisu said Parliament was comprehensively briefed ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the Africa Cup of Nations, with post-tournament expenditure reports also presented to lawmakers.
“When we were going to Qatar, the minister responsible for Youth and Sports briefed Parliament on the preparation, budget and everything… At the end of the tournament, they came back to Parliament and gave us the detailed expenditure,” he said.
He called on the government to uphold the same level of transparency by accounting to Parliament for all expenditure and preparations related to Ghana’s participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
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