Hoteliers threaten legal action against Sports Ministry over unpaid African Games bills

The Ghana Hoteliers Association has declared its intention to investigate threats from some hoteliers to take legal action against the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) over the failure to pay 80 per cent of the funds owed to some members after they hosted guests for the 13th African Games in Accra.

Despite only receiving 20 per cent of the agreed amount, the hoteliers assert that their repeated efforts to secure the remaining balance from the Ministry have been fruitless.

Dr Edward Ackah-Nyameke, the President of the Hoteliers Association, expressed his concerns about the issue in a conversation with Citi News on Sunday.

He urged the government to put measures in place to fulfil its financial obligations to the agencies it engages for services.

“The games were organised in March and we are way into July and my briefing is that these rates were negotiated far even before the games started. So one would expect that these were factored into the budgeting for the all-African games and provisions would have been made for payment right after the games.

“As the story has been reported, only 20% upfront payment has been made and 80% is still outstanding. I don’t know whether there are more hotels than the 40 that have been reported. Is it possible that other hotels are also in the same situation.

“We would have to take the issue on because these are members of the industry. I am not too sure how many of them are members of the Association but be that as it may, anything that affects hotels has implications for the industry so we will begin some enquiries into the matter and advocate for the prompt payment of these outstanding arrears.”

“I need to draw your attention to the fact that this is an issue that continues to confront the industry. To the extent that some hotels have decided not to even deal with public agencies because of issues like this. So this is not something new. It is something that has been going on. And I think we would have to find a way to address it and I do hope that with this story coming up, the agencies will see to their financial responsibilities to the hotels,” Dr Ackah-Nyameke said.

This year’s 13th African Games saw participation from over 13,000 individuals, including 5,000 athletes, 3,000 technical officials, 3,000 volunteers, and 2,000 guests from 54 African countries. Many of these guests were lodged in hotels in Accra.

The LOC and the Ministry of Youth and Sports negotiated the rates with the hoteliers before the games. Over 40 hoteliers report that the Ministry made an upfront payment of only 20 per cent, with a commitment to pay the remaining 80 percent immediately after the conclusion of the games.

However, despite the games concluding on March 23, the Ministry has yet to clear its outstanding debt.

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