Dennis Miracles Aboagye
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has uncovered what they term as an attempt by the government to cover up the World Cup visa scandal, citing several documentation and responses from the government agencies involved as inadequate to address the substantive issues.
Speaking at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Accra yesterday, National Communications Director of the NPP, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, said rather than respond to the substance of the allegations with the urgency and transparency they demand, the Ministry of Sports and Recreation has embarked on a public relations offensive to defend the Minister, while the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has issued blanket denials.
Moreover, he said the government appears content to let the suspension of one Director-General serve as the full stop on a matter that has only just begun.
“Clearly and without equivocation, this is not over, it cannot be allowed to be over, and the Ghanaian people will not accept a cover-up dressed as cooperation,” he said.
The NPP Director of Communications referred to a Memorandum of Understanding dated June 2, 2025, which allegedly granted the private company, Tribe Culture Fest exclusive operational access to National Sports Authority (NSA) facilities, as well as a supplementary arrangement dated January 19, 2026, under which the NSA reportedly agreed to pay the private company US$3,000 per person for United States visa processing and US$2,000 for Canadian visas.
Mr. Aboagye mentioned that the supplementary arrangement expressly covered NSA personnel and provided for payment regardless of whether the visa applications were successful, and also cited a January 28, 2026 email from the NSA’s Chief Operating Officer to the United States Embassy introducing 22 individuals as NSA staff.
The NPP stated that the list included positions that did not exist within the Authority or individuals who did not occupy the stated positions, further referring to an incident on March 18, 2026, when the United States Embassy’s Fraud Prevention Unit reportedly flagged four applicants whose stated positions did not exist at the NSA and requested proof of employment, with NSA responding on the same day with a letter confirming their appointments.
The NPP also mentioned a letter dated May 28, 2026, through which the Ministry of Sports and Recreation reportedly wrote to the United States Embassy under the heading, “Request for Ministerial Support and Visa Facilitation Consideration for NSA Volunteers/Event Coordinators,” transmitting a list of approximately 90 names.
“First, the integrity of the Ghanaian State before foreign governments has been compromised. Official letterheads, signatures and institutional designations were allegedly used to tell the United States and Canada that private individuals were public officers,” Mr. Aboagye noted.
The NPP also claimed that only 15 of the 102 individuals had been verified as NSA personnel, while the remaining 87 were not, further alleging that some applicants had been assigned titles such as “Chaplain” and “Head of Security” that did not reflect genuine positions within the Authority.
Different Visa Fees
The party further demanded an investigation into reports that applicants paid between US$8,000 and US$14,000 each for visa processing, despite the alleged contractual rates of US$3,000 for United States applications and US$2,000 for Canadian applications, with the amount collected totaling more than US$600,000 which had also been confirmed by the Minister for Sports and Recreation.
“If applicants paid up to US$14,000 each for a process contracted at US$3,000, then someone ran a business inside the State. Over US$600,000 is reported to have changed hands. That money must be traced to the last cedi and the last dollar,” the NPP added.
The NPP further alleged that some individuals who travelled under the arrangement had not returned to Ghana, calling for clarification on the number of people involved and the circumstances of their travel, stating that the party was dissatisfied with what it described as the government’s focus on the suspension or removal of the NSA Director-General, Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, without addressing the alleged roles of other officials and institutions.
“The Minister is investigating himself by press conference. Rather than step aside or appear before Parliament, the Minister has sent his aide to declare him innocent. The ministry under scrutiny cannot also be the ministry issuing verdicts,” Mr. Aboagye said.
The party is therefore demanding the dismissal of Sports Minister, Kofi Iddie Adams and the Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Maame Efua Houadjeto.
The NPP further demanded that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to be formally included in the investigation, apart from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), to trace the payments allegedly made by applicants.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah