Sports budget slashed four consecutive times
The Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority, Mr Saka Acquaye, has complained bitterly about government's continued slashing of budgetary allocation to sports in the country.
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He said that the slashing of the budget for four consecutive times in the past three years was killing sports in the country.
The annual budgetary allocation for sports in Ghana was hit by a massive reduction of over 40 per cent, in the recent budget statement announced last Friday by the Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper.
In his presentation of the 2016 budget to Parliament last Friday, Mr Terkper said the reduced amount would also be used on construction works for the Cape Coast and Ho stadia aside it being used to fund the sporting activities.
But sports administrator, Saka Acquaye, noted with disappointment how GH¢39 million allocation approved for 2015 had been whittled down to GH¢22m.
Mr Acquaye, who made the comment at the second triathlon event at the University of Ghana campus last Saturday, explained that the money allocated to sports in the recent budget could be used only in paying the salaries of workers of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the other organisations under its umbrella.
"Go to the various districts in the country, and see if something is happening?" he queried.
He further stated that events such as the National Unity Games, which provided a platform to unearth talents for the country to compete in international tournaments, had stopped due to lack of funds.
The Ghana-Nigeria-Burkina Faso friendship games cannot continue anymore due to a lack of funding, he lamented.
"I am very sure the slashing would continue next year and sports in the country would completely come to an abrupt end. And if the sports should die in the country, more people would end up at the hospitals and the state would spend more money on drugs,” Mr Acquaye predicted.
