Pius Enam Hadzide
President Akufo-Addo has suspended Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Pius Enam Hadzide and the Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Robert Sarfo Mensah.
It follows preliminary investigations conducted into circumstances that led to the arrest and deportation of some 60 Ghanaian ‘journalists’ who allegedly attempted to enter Australia by false pretenses in order to cover the ongoing 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
The decision was communicated in a statement issued from the Jubilee House and signed by the Director of Communications, Eugene Arhin.
It said, “The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday, April 12, 2018, suspended from office, with immediate effect, the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Pius Enam Hadzide; and the acting Director General of the National Sports Authority, Robert Sarfo Mensah.
“This decision has been taken following preliminary investigations into the circumstances that led to the arrest of 60 Ghanaians, who had allegedly attempted to enter Australia by false pretenses in the ongoing 21st Commonwealth Games,” a statement from the Presidency said
Also affected by the presidential decision were the President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Ben Nunoo-Mensah, Board Chairman of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Kwadwo Baah Agyeman and the Chef-de-Maison, who is in charge of the sporting team at the international event, Mohammed Sahnoon.
All the three officers have been recalled from the games in Australia to assist in investigations currently being undertaken by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
Sources said the preliminary investigations uncovered rot in the organization of the trip to Australia.
President Akufo-Addo is said to have expressed anger with the visa racketeering scandal after meeting Pius Hadzide and the Chief of Staff yesterday.
Several Ghanaians both home and abroad called for a probe into the visa scandal.
News of the President’s decision was received with instant applause, and commendation from members of the public, most of whom called for more heads to roll.
A source has hinted that the ongoing investigation into the Australia Commonwealth Games affairs is likely to uncover more rot with more heads expected to roll in the coming days as events unfold.
The Games is expected to end on April 15.
The previous scandal involving a minister at the sporting level in the previous administration earned the appointee a promotion to the office of the president as minister.
Reactions
Reacting to the presidential order, the embattled deputy Sports Minister said his hands are clean.
“My understanding of the preliminary investigation does not mean that I have done anything wrong. If you ask who was in charge of the International Games Committee, I was the one, so for me that is enough basis for me to be asked to stand aside for investigations to commence.”
“Let’s all be patient and have faith in the investigation. I know that the truth will be uncovered; and the truth will be that concerning this issue at hand, I, Pius Hadzide, Deputy Minister, don’t know anything about it,” he told Asempa Fm yesterday.
Hadzide said he was not aware that some journalists had applied to cover the games in Australia.
“I don’t know them [60 fake journalists]; I don’t know how they managed to get there. These are part of issues the investigations will unravel, and I’m praying that very soon the investigations will be fast-tracked and bring out the findings. But the truth in this is that I don’t know anything about the scandal.
“I was surprised when I heard that some Ghanaian journalists have been deported because I didn’t know that journalists are even allowed to attend such events. No journalist came to tell me that they would like to attend the sporting event,” the suspended Deputy Minister said.
Acting NSA Director-General
Speaking on the station, acting NSA Director-General, Robert Sarfo Mensah said, “I respect the decision of the President… I think stepping aside will allow Ghanaians give the due credibility to the investigative team.”
He, however, absolved himself of any blame, saying “if it comes to accreditation, that is not our work. For journalists’ visa, I don’t know more about it. Our concern was the athletes, officials, medical team and technical people we were supposed to fly there. As for journalists’ accreditation…that was not our work.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent