Former Minister for Youth and Sports and Member of Parliament for Yagaba/Kubori, Mustapha Ussif, has distanced himself from a recent allegation contained in an Auditor-General’s report on the 13th All-African Games, Accra 2023. The report flags the Minister and other officials for financial irregularities.

According to the report, the Minister and his associates must be probed over a GH¢579 million sum flagged by the Auditor-General for alleged misapplication and lack of supporting documentation.

But reacting to the allegations, the Minister has insisted he is not responsible for any such of irregularities.

“My attention has been drawn to the release of an audit report, which report is titled: Comprehensive Audit Report on the 13th African Games, Accra 2023. The said report, I understand attributes various irregularities to me. I however deny being responsible for any such irregularities, if any at all”.

“It is my understanding that the report of the audit will be presented to Parliament and persons who may have answers to findings will be invited to respond accordingly. Therefore, I look forward to the opportunity to respond to all the claims of impropriety in the said report,” he added.

In late 2025, President John Dramani Mahama ordered a forensic audit into Ghana’s hosting and organisation of the 2023 13th African Games that began late February 2024 and ended in mid-March of the same year, following a National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) report highlighting concerns of possible financial irregularities.

Consequently, President Mahama issued the directive to the Auditor‑General to conduct the audit.

About six months on, the findings from the report have indicated that Ghana spent in excess of $40 million on avoidable costs, highlighting the millions of dollars and cedis in questionable claims, inflated rates, omitted works and avoidable costs across several projects.

Facilities audit

The audit discovered possible financial irregularities in several African Games projects, including contract changes that may not have followed proper procedures, discrepancies in project cost estimates, and cases where the final work delivered appeared to be less than what was originally planned. These issues were identified at the Borteyman Sports Complex, University of Ghana Stadium, Games Village hostels, cricket facilities and access roads.

One of the major highlights of the report is the Borteyman Sports Complex project, which was supposed to be Ghana’s flagship facility for the 2023 African Games.

The report found that parts of the original Borteyman Sports Complex project were either omitted or scaled back, including a warm-up football field valued at $3.213 million, the conversion of a multipurpose hall into lecture halls valued at $3.06 million, single- and double-lane access roads valued at $11.22 million each, drainage works worth $3.366 million, an electrical substation valued at $850,000, while concrete sidewalks and a children’s playground were reduced by $2.014 million and equipment installations such as CCTV, irrigation and security systems were reduced by $1.6 million.

Despite the scope reductions, auditors noted that consultant supervision fees increased from 3 per cent to 3.83 per cent after the rescoping exercise.

At the University of Ghana Stadium project, the Audit Service flagged claims amounting to $2.814 million as opportunity costs arising from variations and delays, citing a $388,856.78 in interest on delayed payments, $1.136 million in prolongation costs due to a 10-month extension, $769,490.72 for adjustment in cost changes, $519,899.88 in outstanding statutory payments, $62,745.25 variation for extension of the warm-up track

While contractors claimed they delivered more work than originally planned at some facilities, auditors found inconsistencies in payment records and questioned the validity of some claims. They also concluded that portions of the University of Ghana hostel refurbishment were scaled back or omitted, resulting in an estimated loss of value of $1.717 million.

One of the most contentious claims involved $1.176 million for repainting works. The Audit Service said the “computation of justification for this claim is questionable” because painting had already been captured as a lump sum item in the original contract.

The auditors also cast doubt on the justification for repainting the hostel facilities, questioning whether the buildings could have deteriorated significantly enough within a matter of months to warrant such expenditure.

The review further highlighted several additional payments that raised concerns, including $555,668.01 claimed for an extension of time with associated costs, $219,167.59 for extra canteen works, and $888,642.96 covering bedsheets, pillows, pedestrian walkways, transportation bay canopies and mattress replacements.

According to the Audit Service, supporting documentation for some of these expenditures was insufficient, making it difficult to determine whether the costs were reasonable and justified.

Attention also turned to the construction of the access road to the Achimota Cricket Oval, where auditors estimated that GH¢4.376 million could have been saved if pricing rates used by the Department of Urban Roads had been adopted.

The audit identified substantial differences between the rates charged by contractor Mawums Limited and those assessed by auditors. These included variances of GH¢966,537.16 for excavation works, GH¢755,824.37 for imported fill material, GH¢1.094 million for road surfacing, GH¢791,340.20 for pavement works and GH¢252,189.80 for drainage construction.

Investigators further challenged claims that swampy terrain around the project site had contributed to higher costs, noting that evidence of some drainage structures cited in the project documents could not be verified during physical inspections.

Similar concerns were raised over the Achimota Cricket Pavilions project, where a comparison with rates provided by Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) suggested potential savings of GH¢346,793.21.

The report also criticised the project’s BoQ structure, describing it as “quite unconventional” with considerable variations in rates for similar works across building units. Auditors added that “several arithmetic errors made assessment and valuation a challenge,” creating “a false sense that saving was minimal.”

In addition, auditors noted that testing costs were lumped together with consultancy fees on multiple projects, yet no supporting test results or data were made available for verification.

Overall, the Audit Service estimated avoidable costs of more than $38.96 million and GH¢6.33 million across reviewed African Games infrastructure projects.

Former Minister for Youth and Sports and Member of Parliament for Yagaba/Kubori, Mustapha Ussif, has responded to an Auditor-General’s report on the 13th All-African Games, Accra 2023, which recommends that he and other officials be held responsible for the recovery of over GHS 579 million linked to alleged financial irregularities.

“My attention has been drawn to the release of an audit report, which report is titled: Comprehensive Audit Report on the 13th African Games, Accra 2023. The said report, I understand attributes various irregularities to me. I however deny being responsible for any such irregularities, if any at all,” he stated.