Former Sports Minister, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye has called for an independent investigation into the Norway Para-Athletes scandal.
He is not very comfortable about the probe initiated by the Sports Ministry.
Mr. Vanderpuye comment comes after Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif said an investigative body has been set up to probe the saga.
Speaking on Citi FM, he referenced the Australian Commonwealth Games visa scandal, where government officials were implicated, to emphasize the need for an independent body to investigate the Norway incident.
He questioned the credibility of the Sports Ministry’s investigation, suggesting potential official complicity.
The former Sports Minister also condemned the current Sports Minister’s attempt to shift the blame onto the Norwegian Embassy, arguing that the embassy cannot be held responsible and that only an independent investigation can uncover the truth.
He said, “Well the embassy cannot be blamed. What do you expect? We are talking about a regime under which we’ve seen a situation where people were virtually made athletes.
“We all know what happened, the Commonwealth Visa Scandal. In that situation, government apparatchik officials, and state officials were involved. What has come out of that issue? Under this government, everything is possible.”
“I would not surprised if this so-called issue of forged documents and the rest has an official endorsement. If this had not blown out, who would have heard about it? We’ve seen it before where there was official complexity in the issuance of visas for people to go to Commonwealth Games in Australia when they were actually not athletes, they were not journalists, they misrepresented themselves, they were sent there so if it has happened again, with Amputee Team which is not our National Amputee Team according to the President of Ghana Disabled Sports Association, then who do you blame? I would require an independent body doing the investigation, not the Ministry itself doing the investigation.”
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