John Mahama Blames Corruption for Deteriorating Stadium Conditions in Ghana
John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has pointed to corruption within the current government as the primary reason for the poor state of stadiums in Ghana. His remarks follow a directive from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) requiring the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to find an alternative venue for the national team’s next home game.
In response to this directive, the National Sports Authority (NSA) has closed three major stadiums—Baba Yara Stadium, Accra Sports Stadium, and Cape Coast Stadium—for urgent maintenance. “For the first time in our history, CAF is saying we lack suitable stadiums for international matches, forcing us to play in other countries,” Mahama stated during a campaign event ahead of the upcoming December 7 elections.
He questioned the impact of recent government contracts aimed at renovating these stadiums, asking, “What happened to the big contracts handed out for renovations?”
Mahama emphasized the public’s frustration with ongoing corruption scandals, stating, “People are tired of it. Journalists don’t even talk about it anymore.”
Adding to the discourse, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, revealed that the government has spent over GHS85 million on stadium maintenance in the past five years, with little visible improvement. He alleged that more than a third of these funds went to a company owned by Kelvin Ofori-Atta, a relative of President Akufo-Addo and former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
