Every four years, Ghana does not just play football. Ghana plays visa.
2018: Commonwealth Games in Australia — 50+ Ghanaians detained, accused of posing as journalists. Two NSA staff accused of inserting fake names.
2024: Bergen Marathon in Norway — 11 fake para-athletes absconded, one died in Oslo, nine disappeared in Schengen. NPC President says his signature was forged.
2026: FIFA World Cup in USA-Canada-Mexico — $623,000 allegedly collected, 102 names sent to Canada as NSA staff, only 15 verified. 50 names sent as journalists to US Embassy, only 2 verified — Philip Narh and Andy Dosty. Private company TRIBE operating from Accra Sports Stadium charging $8,000 to $9,000 instead of official $3,000.
This is not a scandal. It is a sector. And sectors are not ended by press conferences. They are ended by law and discipline.
After the Minority press conference on October 7 by Vincent Ekow Assafuah calling for dismissal of Sports Minister Kofi Adams and GTA CEO Maame Efua Houadjeto, the question is no longer who did it. The question is: *how must these allegations be dealt with to stop it forever?*
Here is the blueprint.
1. DEAL WITH THIS SPECIFIC ALLEGATION — NOT AS ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR, AS CRIME
The President has suspended NSA DG Yaw Ampofo Ankrah and dissolved the Board. That is administrative. Ghana must now move to criminal.
The laws already exist. Use them:
a) Forgery and False Representation — Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29):
– Section 159 — Forgery of documents:* If anyone forged the NSA organogram to create portfolios like “Procurement Officer” for someone who is not, or forged Board Secretary title when Legal Adviser was acting, that is forgery. Punishment is years in prison.
– Section 131 — Defrauding by false pretences: Collecting $8,000-$9,000 from a Ghanaian while official fee is $3,000 (US) and $2,000 (Canada), claiming you are facilitating visa as NSA staff when you are not, is false pretence. Over $623,000 allegedly collected — that is not small.
– Section 248 — Falsification of returns:* Submitting 102 names to Canadian Embassy as staff when only 15 are verifiable is falsifying a return to a foreign mission.
What must be done:* Police CID, not NSA internal committee, must take over. CID must seize the letters sent by Yaw Gyamfi Kusi Awere, COO of NSA, to US Embassy on January 28, 2026, and all GTA letters allocating 400 US slots and 600 Canada slots. Forensic verification with Public Services Commission — who is actually on NSA and GTA payroll?
b) Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921):
Where did the extra $5,000 per person go? If money was collected using state letterhead inside Accra Sports Stadium, a public facility, then it is public money or money collected under color of public office. Section 96 says a public officer who misappropriates public funds is liable. Audit Service must audit NSA and GTA accounts and the accounts of TRIBE Culture Fest.
c) Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959):
This is corruption involving public office and foreign mission. OSP must take interest. If officials collected money to influence visa outcome, that is influence peddling.
Action now: Freeze accounts of individuals named — Comfort Ahiadome, Felicia Ahiadome, Fuseini Lukman and others — pending investigation. Publish the 102 list and 50 media list. Invite public to verify.
2. STOP THE LONG-STANDING ISSUE — KILL THE BUSINESS MODEL
Why does this happen every tournament? Because Ghana created a visa business model.
The Model: Government gets limited visa facilitation slots from embassies for genuine athletes and officials. Officials keep it opaque. They bring in a private “partner” — in 2018 it was accreditation system, in 2026 it is TRIBE Culture Fest. That partner is allowed to operate from inside the stadium, collect dollars, and present outsiders as staff. Desperate youth pay.
How to kill it:
a) Ban All Private Visa Facilitation From State Premises — Immediate Executive Instrument:
No private entity must ever operate an office, banner, or desk inside Accra Sports Stadium, any regional stadium, NSA, Ministry of Sports, or GTA to collect money for visas. If TRIBE is FIFA-licensed for fan experience viewing centers, let them do viewing centers. Not visa letters. A Ministerial directive must be issued this week.
b) Create a Centralized, Published, Verifiable Database:
Before any list goes to any embassy, it must be:
1. Published on Ministry website for 7 days — name, position, reason for travel.
2. Certified by Public Services Commission and Controller and Accountant-General — is this person really staff?
3. Counter-signed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In this case, US Embassy Fraud Prevention Unit did what Ghana should have done — they found only 2 of 50 media names were real. Ghana must create its own Fraud Prevention Unit inside Sports Ministry.
c) End the Allocation of Bulk Visa Slots:
Why did GTA get 400 US slots and 600 Canada slots? Embassies give facilitation for genuine staff, not 1,000 people. GTA has about 100 staff nationwide. Why 1,000 slots? The bulk allocation itself creates room for selling. Henceforth, no bulk allocation. Each person must apply individually with verifiable staff ID and payslip.
3. BRING DISCIPLINE INTO THE SECTOR — THE LAW MUST BITE
a) Amend National Sports Authority Act, 2016 (Act 934):
Insert a specific offence: “Visa Racketeering in Sports.” Any official who presents a non-staff as staff to a foreign mission for visa purposes commits an offence punishable by dismissal, 5-year ban from public office, and prosecution. Currently, officials who did 2018 are still at post — Christine Ashley and Husseini Akuetteh Addy. That impunity teaches others.
b) Ghana Tourism Authority Act, 2011 (Act 817):
GTA’s core mandate is tourism promotion, not visa brokerage. Section on licensing must be amended to prohibit GTA from facilitating visas for non-staff. If GTA wants to take media to World Cup, accreditation must be via GJA — Ghana Journalists Association — not GTA internal list.
c) Use Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) and Passport and Travel Certificate Act:
Any Ghanaian who obtains a visa by false representation and absconds damages Ghana’s rating. Under Section 52 of Immigration Act, the Minister can impose travel ban of 5 years on anyone who absconds after state-facilitated travel. Their passport must be flagged.
d) Whistleblower Act, 2006 (Act 720):
The officers at NSA who knew that only 15 of 102 were staff but kept quiet did so because they fear victimization. Protect them. The Minority says Yaw Gyamfi Kusi Awere sent the email. Who typed the list? Who in HR was bypassed? Give them whistleblower protection and reward.
4. FIX GHANA’S IMAGE — THE PASSPORT IS BLEEDING
Every visa scandal makes the next genuine applicant suffer.
When Canada denied Thomas Partey a visa for Panama friendly while US granted him visa for World Cup, it showed embassies now treat Ghana cases with extra suspicion. When US Embassy had to verify 50 Ghanaian journalists and found 48 fake, the next time a real Ghanaian journalist applies, he will be investigated like a criminal.
How to repair:
a) Official Apology to Embassies:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs must write to US Embassy and Canadian High Commission, apologize for misrepresentation, and share corrective measures. Not defend. Apologize. In 2024, after Norway, Sports Minister blamed Norwegian Embassy for issuing visas without verification. That arrogance must end.
b) Bilateral Visa Integrity Agreement:
Sign MoU with US, Canada, UK, Schengen embassies — Ghana will pre-verify all sports-related visa requests via a joint committee including Foreign Affairs, NIB, and embassy liaison. Ghana will share list of persons who absconded in Norway 2024 and Australia 2018, to show we are serious.
c) National Sports Visa Code of Conduct:
Publish a code that every athlete, official, journalist traveling on state facilitation must sign — if you abscond, you lose all state support, your federation is suspended, and you are reported to Interpol.
The $623,000 is not the biggest loss. The biggest loss is the 23-year-old sprinter in Cape Coast who will be denied a US visa next year for World Athletics because a visa officer remembers that in 2026 Ghana presented a fake Procurement Officer as NSA staff.
The law to punish this already exists — Act 29, Act 921, Act 959. What does not exist is the will to use it beyond suspending one man.
If President Mahama wants this to be more than a press conference war between Minority and Majority, he must:
– Order OSP and CID to take over today
– Order full refund to all who paid $8k-$9k
– Publish all lists
– Ban TRIBE and any private entity from stadium
– Prosecute, not just dismiss
Otherwise, in 2028 for Los Angeles Olympics, we will be here again. Same stadium, different company, different name, same $8,000.
And the Ghanaian passport will continue to be a document that embassies fear, not respect.
Continue from ghanacrimereport.com and ghanatalk.com