Tuesday, 15th July 2025
The conduct of the Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon. Kofi Iddie Adams, in Parliament today raises serious concerns about accountability, transparency, and ministerial competence. In what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to distort facts and mislead the public, the Minister made misleading and evasive remarks regarding the ownership and funding of the Mim Astroturf project in the Ahafo Region.
During a parliamentary sitting to address questions relating to sports infrastructure across the country, Hon. Kofi Iddie Adams stated that the Mim Astroturf was constructed by a “private individual” based on documents available to his Ministry. When pressed to mention the name of the said private sponsor, the Minister shockingly refused to disclose it, claiming only the Ministry of Local Government or its Minister could determine the identity or ownership.
This contradictory and evasive response raises several critical questions:
1. If the Ministry of Sports has documents confirming private sponsorship, why is the sponsor’s name missing or deliberately hidden?
2. How can the Minister conclude the project was privately funded yet shift the burden of disclosing ownership to another ministry?
3. If the Mim Astroturf was indeed a private initiative, on what legal or procedural grounds does the Minister suggest ownership rests with the Assembly?
4. Why is the Minister reluctant to acknowledge the former MP for Asunafo North, Hon. Evans Opoku Bobbie, as the benefactor, despite public records and community knowledge of his initiative?
It is important to state that Hon. Evans Opoku Bobbie, during his tenure as Member of Parliament for Asunafo North, personally funded and oversaw the construction of the Mim Astroturf at a cost of approximately $300,000. This was separate from the Goaso Astroturf, which was constructed under the NPP government’s One Constituency, One Astroturf initiative, and later handed over to the National Sports Authority (NSA).
To now witness a sitting Sports Minister evading facts and playing partisan propaganda — backed by certain NDC Members of Parliament who have been in office for over 16 years without delivering comparable infrastructure in their own constituencies — is not only disingenuous but a threat to public accountability.
It is evident this misinformation serves a political agenda: to deny the hard work of Hon. Evans Opoku Bobbie and prevent the public from comparing his delivery with the glaring underperformance of long-serving NDC MPs in Ahafo, particularly in Asunafo South and Asutifi South. Ironically, communities in those NDC strongholds travel to Mim, in Asunafo North, to use the very facility the Minister tried to distort today.
The Minister’s conduct amounts to willful misrepresentation of facts on the floor of Parliament — a place that demands truth and integrity. It borders on dereliction of duty and a possible breach of ministerial oath, particularly under Article 58(1) and Article 195 of the 1992 Constitution, which underscore the need for transparency, public accountability, and fidelity to the truth by public officers.
Furthermore, the refusal to disclose the name of a purported private sponsor, when such information is clearly in the Ministry’s records, could be grounds for a Right to Information (RTI) request or even a defamation and libel suit, should the concealment cause reputational harm to any individuals involved.
As a country committed to democratic governance and responsible leadership, such half-truths and calculated evasions must be called out. The Hon. Minister must return to Parliament with a full and honest disclosure of the facts surrounding the Mim Astroturf. Anything short of that undermines public trust in our institutions.
Ghanaians deserve better than a Sports Minister who plays politics with truth and withholds facts to shield political allies. Let Parliament, the Media, and Civil Society demand truth, transparency, and accountability on this matter.
