The Minority in Parliament is demanding that the government publish the names and passport numbers of all 431 people it sponsored to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following claims that not all of them have returned to Ghana.
Ranking Member on Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, said the Minority had identified the driver of Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams and a secretary at the office of the Chief Director as two people who allegedly travelled under the sponsorship arrangement but have not returned.
Mr. Assafuah said the Minority specifically questioned the Sports Minister about his driver, identified in some reports as Mr Okyere, during his engagement with the parliamentary committee.
“I asked him specifically about the fact that his own driver, Mr. Okyere, who was part of the 431, has not returned to Ghana,” he said.
The Minority also alleged that a secretary at the Chief Director’s office, identified as Christie, was among the sponsored travellers and had not returned.
“We also made an allegation that there is a secretary at the office of the chief director, who is called Christie, who was sponsored as part of those supporters. Today, that person did not come back,” Mr. Assafuah said.
He argued that the allegations contradict the government’s position that all 431 sponsored travellers returned to Ghana after the tournament.
The Minority is therefore calling for the publication of the full list of beneficiaries, including their passport details, to allow their travel and return status to be independently checked.
“We are asking the minister to publish all the 431 people, their passport numbers and their names, as to whether these people actually returned back to Ghana or not,” Mr. Assafuah said.
The issue comes amid wider scrutiny of Ghana’s participation in the 2026 World Cup and the government’s expenditure and travel arrangements for the tournament.
The Minority has also raised separate concerns over an alleged visa facilitation arrangement linked to the World Cup and called for investigations into the matter.
The allegations concerning the two individuals remain claims by the Minority and have not been independently established.
The Sports Minister’s reported position is that all 431 government-sponsored travellers returned to Ghana.
