World Cup visa saga: Tribe Culture Fest rejects Sports Minister’s allegation of receiving $611,000 from private individuals

Tribe Culture Fest and its Chief Executive Officer, Nana Boateng Gyimah, have denied allegations that the organisation illegally received $611,000 from private individuals and is refusing to refund the money.

At a press conference on Sunday, Mr Gyimah said the allegations attributed to the Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, were not supported by established facts.

He insisted that neither the organisation nor its CEO had received the money from the individuals referenced in the allegations.

“Our position is clear. Tribe did not receive the alleged $611,000 from the private individuals referred to in the public allegation, and we do not enter into personal financial arrangements being attributed to us,” he said.

Mr Gyimah explained that Tribe’s dealings with the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) involved institutional and contractual arrangements for specific programmes and activities.

He said the arrangements covered event logistics, travel arrangements, hotel bookings, transportation and security.

According to him, Tribe charged $3,000 and $2,000 as full and final payments for its role in the relevant activities, stressing that the organisation had not received payments directly from individuals seeking assistance to travel abroad.

Mr Gyimah said the arrangements were not personal financial transactions involving people seeking visas to travel to the United States, Canada or Mexico.

He also referred to information that individuals had allegedly paid between $14,000 and $20,000 to persons at the NSA with promises of securing visas, mainly to the United States and Canada.

However, he called for verifiable evidence to establish who made the alleged payments, who received the money, the dates and methods of payment, and the accounts through which the funds were transferred.

He also demanded evidence of any agreements, receipts or acknowledgements linking Tribe Culture Fest or its CEO to the money, as well as the legal or contractual basis for demanding a refund from the organisation.

“These are not unreasonable demands. They are minimum evidentiary requirements for determining responsibility in a matter of this nature,” he said.

Mr Gyimah maintained that any investigation must identify the actual recipients of the funds and establish whether the money was paid to an intermediary and, if so, where it ultimately went.

“If a claim is made that Tribe received or must refund a particular amount, the evidence should establish the basis for that claim,” he added.

The denial follows allegations concerning the $611,000 and the question of whether the organisation is required to refund the amount. Tribe Culture Fest insists that it did not receive the money from the private individuals in question.