Former Youth and Sports Minister, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has denied the allegation levelled against him for the payment of GHc 1.6 million in cash to the Shakdeen Construction Limited which was responsible for the New Edubiase Sports Stadium in the Ashanti region.
Nii Lante Vanderpuye in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Friday explained that he does not have the right to make payments per the rules of parliament.
READ ALSO: Mahama campaign hunt for bodyguard who attacked multimedia journalist [Audio]
“I am not an accountant of the Ministry of Youth and Sports or a disbursement officer. As a minister, I don’t handle money and hence, I don’t make payments. I don’t pay money to anyone. I don’t write cheques because I am not a Chief Director too.”
“So if any payments were done, the payments were done by the Ministry of Youth and Sports through its officials as mandated by law to do those things and not me.’’
The New Edubiase 10,000-seater stadium was an initiative that was taken over by the former President John Mahama from the late President Mills. But the project has since been left unattended, although the current government promised to complete the construction.
According to the Sports Minister, the funding for the project was not captured in the budget for 2015 and 2016 and since there was no evidence of sponsorship for the project, it became an initiative under the office of the president but was supervised by the ministry of youth and sports.
READ ALSO: Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall arrive in Ghana [Photos]
Mr. Vanderpuye has therefore called on the Minister for Youth and Sports, Isaac Kwame Asiamah to provide the evidence he has against him(Nii Lantey Vanderpuye) about the alleged payment.
“The least I expected from Kwame Asiamah was to accuse a predecessor. It is such an extremely awful act. Provide the pictures or videos in which you saw me paying the money.”