Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has declared that he cannot be held accountable for the controversy surrounding the Norway Scandal, which has impacted Ghanaian sports.

In April, a group of individuals posing as para-athletes, who were expected to represent Ghana at the Bergen Marathon in Oslo, Norway, absconded, with one individual passing away and another apprehended by Norwegian authorities while attempting to move to Sweden. This incident was detailed in a letter from the Ministry of National Security, which was shared with the Sports Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Integration.

Samson Deen, President of the National Paralympic Committee-Ghana, claimed in a video that his signature was forged on the letter used by the individuals to apply for visas.

Earlier this week, the Ministry condemned the actions of the alleged para-athletes and promised to enforce “punitive measures” against the impersonators.

In a press briefing at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif emphasized that he cannot be held responsible for the scandal, as due processes were not followed. “You follow protocol by writing to the National Sports Authority, and the National Sports Authority will write to the Ministry. In this case, I have just told you that nothing of such nature happened until I even got the reportage; we didn’t know.”

He added, “Secondly, the Norwegian authorities who issued the visas to the athletes didn’t see it prudent to even verify from the Ministry to see whether these are genuine athletes or not, so to your question of whether I will take responsibility, I’m sorry I can’t.”