Sports Ministry accused of sole sourcing $525,000 AFCON 2017 hosting bid

It has emerged that the Ministry of Youth and Sports entered into a contract to pay US$ 525,000 as consultancy fee for the preparation of Ghana's bid documents for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Out of this amount $68,000 has been paid leaving a balance of $456, 263.56 to be paid.

These are contained in the Annual Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana-Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the year ended 31 December 2015.

In the end, Ghana failed in its bid to host the tournament.

According to the Auditor General's Report, RICS Consult belonging to Mr Rex Danquah was sole sourced for the preparation of the document.

The report stated that the sole sourcing such a contract was in violation of Section 40 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) which requires procurement entities to seek approval from the Public Procurement Authority before they engage in single source procurement.

According to the report, it was observed that the Ministry engaged RICS Consult Limited through single source selection to prepare documentation to bid and host the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2017 without prior approval from the Public Procurement Authority.

The Auditor General's report said the Ministry could not also provide them with the contract documents awarding RICS Consult Limited the consulting services.

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