The National Paralympic Committee in Ghana has disclosed that four family members who were sent to retrieve the body of the coach of the ‘Paralympic team’ that absconded in Norway, have also gone missing after their arrival.
The NPC and Ghana’s Sports Ministry were hit with a visa scandal on Saturday, July 21, 2024, after it emerged that 11 people fled after arriving in Oslo for the Fjordkraft Bergen City Marathon. The para-athletes, who have been identified as fake, failed to take part in the competition and ran away to other Schengen nations.
According to Ghanian Media, One person has been arrested while the coach of the team George Gyamfi Gyasi collapsed and died subsequently in Norway.
According to the president of the National Paralympic Committee, Mr Samson Deen, four relatives of the coach who were sent to bring back his corpse have also absconded.
“If you look at the first application, it was six or seven people they applied for initially. They were denied visas, they got the letters they wanted subsequently forged, but upon arrival, they absconded, and one died,” he told Asaase Radio, as quoted by Pulse Ghana.
“They subsequently wrote to the Norwegian embassy again and requested to send the families of the one who died. The people went, they couldn’t bring the corpse. The four also absconded, these guys are known. They’ve been identified.”
Mr Deen also disclosed that the ‘fake team’ forged documents to secure their visas for the competition.
Angry Ghanaian citizens have called for an investigation into how they used the office of the NPC and the sports ministry to travel.
“They forged my signature on the letter and applied for visas for some people who have no affiliation with the Ghana Paralympic Team,” he said.
“For this matter, the two remaining individuals have been suspended from anything that has to do with Paralympic Sports in the country.”
