The Minister for Youth and Sports Designate, Hon. Mustapha Ussif, believes the investigative report into the Australia visa scandal that rocked the country’s participation at the 2018 Commonwealth Games should be made public.
More than 60 people were deported from Australia for posing as journalists in order to enter the country during the games in April 2018.
The scandal led to the suspension of the then Director General for the National Sports Authority, Robert Sarfo-Mensah, and Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Pius Enam Hadzide.
The Bureau of National Investigation launched an investigation into the alleged fraud and President Akufo-Addo later cleared Hadzide on the based on the report but Sarfo-Mensah remained suspended.
However, the report was never made public and details of how the fraud was orchestrated remain surreptitious.
Making his appearance before the vetting committee of parliament, the MP for Yabaga-Kubori said he would pursue the publication of the report once he comes into office.
“The issue of visa scandals is very worrying and it’s not a good image for our country, especially with what happened in Australia.
“I know the GOC is usually in charge and this had to do with accreditation.
“Given the opportunity, I will engage the GOC and the NSA and even the host nations’s embassy in Ghana so that we will be able to ensure that only vetted athletes or sportsmen and women are issued visas. So that we don’t find ourselves damaging our image in this way.
“I’ll follow through to see if the agencies doing this investigation have concluded. Currently, I don’t know the status of the investigation.
“So if yes, the investigation has been concluded, it’s a public interest matter and the report should be made public, that’s what I think.”
