The minister-nominee for Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, says the country needs to be serious in fighting corruption in the sports sector.
According to him, there are enough mechanisms set up to check the phenomenon, however, much seriousness have not been attached to it.
He said various stakeholders and parliament’s select committee on Sports, need to ensure that the various government agencies in sports are accountable as a way of dealing with corruption in the sector.
Speaking before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Tuesday [February 7, 2017], Mr. Asiamah said dealing with corruption in the sports must not be considered a duty of only the Sports Ministry, but that all stakeholders must get involved.
“We must ensure that whatever we do, there is transparency and accountability, so if there is accountability in the process we can fight corruption. There are enough accountability mechanisms in place to check any ministry if we are serious with fighting corruption. There are enough accountability mechanisms but it is about how serious we are as a country.”
“Parliament, our job is to fight corruption, so we are all equally responsible for fighting corruption.”
He called on Parliament for assistance to aid the Ministry of Sports to carry out its mandate effectively.
Isaac Asiamah also noted that, he would ensure that the Ghana Football Association (GFA), routes all of its programmes and documentations through the National Sports Authority, rather than have direct interaction with the Sports Ministry.
There has been a long standing rift between the Ghana Football Association and the Ministry of Sports, over the latter’s interference in the activities of the Football Association, and the senior national soccer team, the Black Stars.
He expressed concerns that there were some regions in the country that do not have sporting clubs, adding that there was the need for at least a club in each region as a way of promoting local football.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
