The Minister, who disclosed this at a meet the press series in Accra on Tuesday, said the amount includes what departments and agencies under the ministry owed, adding that his administration has started settling the debts.

He said what the ministry inherited looked “gloomy” with its offices left in a “dilapidated state”.

According to the minister, the debts accrued by the ministry and its agencies had led to the confiscation of some properties of his outfit.

“I realized that the staff of the ministry and its agencies lacked requisite facilities, training, environment and motivation to produce results.

“Our offices had inadequate equipment like computers, printers, photocopiers, telephones and air conditioners. The office left to the ministry was in a dilapidated state, now we have given it a new phase.

“The most embarrassing was that, the ministry and its agencies were involved in huge debts, leading to the disconnection of electricity to the Accra Sports Stadium and Essipong Sports Stadium. For two years, there was a seizure of vehicles, belonging to the National Sports Authority (NSA) through court rulings and a total neglect of maintenance at the national sports stadia and other sporting facilities, like the Azumah Nelson Sports Complex, and the National Sports College in Winneba,” the minister stated.

“It is not my intention and style to paint a gloomy picture of the state of affairs at the sports ministry when we took over, but I find it very necessary to expose only the tip of the iceberg for Ghanaians to appreciate where we are coming from and where we are to going,” he stated.

“I assure the staff in particular and Ghanaians that, I was not appointed as a minister to come and lament over the state of affairs but rather to fix the challenges I inherited.

“Together as a team, we embarked on a journey of recovery. A journey many skeptics thought was a mission impossible. Within 13 months of my administration in office these actions have been taken; rehabilitation of the Accra Sports Stadium has started as we all know, the reconstruction of the Azumah Nelson Sports Complex into a modern youth and sports center of excellence.”

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Source: GNA

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