Nii Lante Vanderpuye, the former minister of youth and sports for Ghana, has pledged to provide complete accountability for money allocated to sports facilities, with a particular emphasis on the project’s Youth Resource Centers, which is currently on hold.
Ten multipurpose Youth and Sports Resource Centers were to be built nationwide as part of the plan, which was started by the current administration in 2018.
A 10,000-seat FIFA-standard football field, an eight-lane track, handball, basketball, and tennis courts, a gymnasium, a counseling center, a youth ICT hub, an entrepreneurial center, and a restaurant were all intended to be included in the design of each facility.
The initial expectation was for the centers to be completed within nine months after starting, and they were to be situated in Kaneshie, Nuwunu-Ho, Koforidua, Axim, Nyinahin, Dunkwa-On-Offin, Dormaa, Yendi, Navrongo, and Wa.
Nevertheless, only two of the centers—Koforidua and Ho—have been put into operation despite millions of dollars being invested; the other centers are still unfinished and unmaintained, prompting criticism and requests for an investigation into the initiative.
Nii Lante Vanderpuye, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodio constituency, discussed the future of the centers in an interview with ChannelOne Sports. This will happen if the NDC wins the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
He promised the completion of the centers and the recovery of any misappropriated cash.
“The administration will also look at whether money was spent wisely. If it becomes out that funds were misappropriated, action will be taken to get them back. No issue as long as it was used wisely.” Whoever they are, I don’t care. I’ll make sure I have solutions for any problems that come up in the future and I won’t inherit any problems that I didn’t generate.”