The paralympic fraternity in Ghana has been hit by a scandal that has seen the National Paralympic Committee President, Samson Deen, deny all the reports.
It started with a security brief sent from the Ministry of National Security to the ministries of Youth and Sports and Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration regarding the absconding of some Ghanaian para athletes and a coach in Norway despite travelling to the Scandinavian nation for an international marathon.
The delegation was supposed to take part in the Fjordkraft Bergen City Marathon in and attained visas to that effect.
However, they failed to register for the event upon arrival in Oslo.
One of them, Nana Antwi, was later arrested and detained while attempting to leave the borders of Norway to Sweden on a one-way train ticket.
Later, the coach, George Gyamfi Gyasi, collapsed and admitted at the Oslo University Hospital, where he later passed away.
The Youth and Sports Ministry has since denied knowledge of this, insisting no communication was received from the National Sports Authority (NSA) nor the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) on the said competition.
The President of the Committee, Samson Deen, who also doubles as the President of the African Paralympic Committee, says no member or official or assign of his outfit has requested for visas.
“I want to appeal to the people of Ghana that the pictures, the images, the stories that [are] going viral ha[ve] nothing to do with any member or anyone they see in the picture,” he stated in a short video to dispel the reports.
“None of them are or have involved or have or are associated to this people. The letters that was sent with my signature on it were forged by these guys which is Ernest Ayisi and Theodore Mawuli who led, who did all these forged documents, fraudulently used my documents to acquire visas for some people who are very unknown to the Paralympic family.”
The Sports Ministry has assured the public of an investigation into “the matter to ascertain the issues surrounding the incident”.
“Necessary sanctions would be brought to bear on all parties found culpable in the matter.”
