Four years after the infamous Australia Commonwealth Games (CWG) visa scandal that led to the detention and deportation of over 120 Ghanaians, another major visa saga has reared its ugly head this time involving over 2,000 Ghanaians at the recently held Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
According to the fans who spoke to this investigation, their attempts at reclaiming their monies from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and its authorised ticket reseller, African Origin Travel and Sports Tourism (AOT&ST), has been met with assaults, the threat of assault, seizure of phones, and a stone-cold silence.
Over 2,000 Ghanaian sports fans have reportedly sent a petition to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) accusing the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) and AOT&ST for defrauding them of an estimated GH ¢8m – according to The Vanguard Newspaper. The fans have sent further petitions to the Ministry, the Police CID, and the Ghana Journalist Association (GIJ).
The petitioners are asking the CGF to blacklist AOT&ST from all CWG activities; take action against TCL, the British High Commission’s local agent for visa applications; blacklist officials of AOT&ST from traveling to any Commonwealth country pending the outcome of investigations.
Many of the fans who have spoken to this investigation accuse AOT&ST and the MOYS of hatching a grand scheme that lured them into making payments from ¢5,000 to ¢15,000 to AOT&ST in exchange for a U.K. Visa.
Similar to the Australia scam, the Minister of Youth and Sports Hon. Mustapha Ussif and this time the President of the National Paralympic Committee Samson Deen, who is also the owner of AOT&ST, and some major media houses in the country are accused of direct involvement in the scheme.
Background
In an unprecedented move on 24th May 2022, the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Youth and Sports announced the appointment of African Origin Travel and Sports Tourism (AOT&ST) as the sole authorised ticket reseller and hospitality agent for Ghana’s participation in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth from 28th July to 8th August 2022, per a MOYS letter.
The MOYS letter further gave African Origin the sole authority to organise “hospitality packages and assisting Ghanaian fans for the Commonwealth Games.” The statement added African Origin is “responsible for providing FULL TRAVEL SERVICES to Ghanaians.”
Armed with this public declaration of intent, Samson Deen’s African Origin rolled out a PR stunt across the country and internationally asking interested fans to pay a registration fee of GH¢5, 000 upfront to facilitate their entry to Birmingham 2022. It is important to add that as the sole authorised ticket reseller, Samson Deen’s outfit had access to the Games tickets which is a key requirement for any would-be applicant at the British High Commission. This was AOT&ST’s triumph card!
Sports fans across the length and breadth of the nation came in their droves to register for a chance of a lifetime to travel to the U.K. They say, AOT&ST gave them between 95% and 99% chances of success of a U.K. visa.
Upon registering at the African Origin office in Accra, the would-be travelers were then asked to make further payments of between GH¢1500 and GH¢2000 for supporting financial statements. That is if their documents were found not to be sufficient to meet UK embassy financial requirements. The victims who spoke to the present investigation said they were also asked by African Origin to pay GH¢640 for expedited action or walk-in service at the British High Commission’s agent, TCL, located at the Movenpick Hotel, Accra.
Significantly, none of the victims received email correspondence from the British High Commission’s agent TCL to prove receipt of their registration and whether their application had been successful or not.
There began a long wait for news on their application. Some of the victims say officials of African Origin claimed their passports had first been sent to South Africa, and then later to the UK as the date for the start of the Games on 28th July 2022 drew nearer.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Olympic Committee which is the recognised representative of the Commonwealth Games Federation in the country and is supposed to be the only organisation clothed with the power to make such an appointment as the sole authorised ticket reseller as witnessed for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games, took a back seat this time. Apparently, their position was weakened by internal struggles and the Australia scam.
But strangely the MOYS letter only asked AOT&ST to “liaise with officials of the Ghana Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to provide complete travel services to Team Ghana.” This also meant African Origin facilitated the travel and accommodation for Ghana’s official delegation to the Games including athletes, technical officials, and others.
One is inclined to ask: why the Ministry’s interest and intervention this time? The MOYS claims it was to prevent another visa scam.
In an interview with The Vanguard newspaper, the MYS claims African Origin acted contrary to its directives to engage the National Sports Authority and the Ghana Olympic Committee to prevent a re-occurrence of the Australia visa scandal. According to the MOYS, Samson Deen’s outfit rather solicited the help of some prime media houses such as Peace FM, UTV, and Onua FM to lure unsuspecting victims into investing their monies in the obvious scam.
Despite its attempt to blame Samson Deen and African Origin, the MOYS is yet to make a public statement about the ragging inferno of the visa scam over a month after Birmingham 2022.
Meanwhile, no organisation or individuals were held responsible for the Australia Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
