Samuel Nartey George, the MP for Ningo Prampram, has raised serious concerns regarding the compensation of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) staff during the coverage of the 2023 African Games. According to him, local GBC staff received a daily stipend of GH₵100, while their foreign counterparts earned GH₵1,000 per day.
This issue has emerged amid a controversy over the exact amount paid to GBC for broadcasting the Games. On Monday, August 19, 2024, Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif claimed that the Ministry had paid GBC $3 million for its services as the official broadcaster. However, GBC’s Director General, Prof. Amin Alhassan, contradicted this claim in an interview with Uniiq FM on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, stating that GBC had only received $105,000 for its coverage of the event, which occurred between February and March of this year.
Amid the conflicting statements regarding the payment, Sam George has called into question the fairness of the compensation for GBC’s local staff. “Even if the payment was $105,000, we need to understand how GBC disbursed that money, who received what, and why foreign broadcasters working through GBC were paid GH₵1,000 per day while GBC’s Ghanaian staff received only GH₵100,” he said during an appearance on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News.
The MP emphasized the need for transparency and accountability, declaring that a thorough investigation into the financial aspects of the Games’ coverage would be conducted. “Questions need to be answered… We will conduct a thorough investigation into the expenses, releases, and payments related to the African Games,” George added.
The Sports Ministry has yet to address the GBC Director General’s denial of the $3 million payment, leaving the exact financial details and the fairness of staff compensation in question.
Source: GhanaFeed.Com