New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Communications Team member Kwame Prempeh has questioned the oversight responsibilities of Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Iddie Adams in the controversy surrounding a list of 90 people submitted for United States visa processing, insisting that the minister should step aside pending investigations.
Prempeh argued that the minister should take temporary leave from office whether the circumstances leading to the submission of the list involved negligence or deliberate wrongdoing.
Speaking on Asaase Radio’s current affairs programme The Forum on Saturday, October 17, he said the minister had a duty to ensure that appropriate checks were conducted before the list was forwarded through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the US Embassy.
He maintained that the minister’s responsibility could not be dismissed simply because he did not personally sign the letter transmitting the list.
“If I was the minister at that time and you know there was an issue with the list of this particular institution and the new list of 90 was coming, I think we were going to have proper due diligence before forwarding it to the American Embassy,” he said.
Ministerial responsibility under scrutiny
Prempeh said the minister remained accountable for activities within his ministry, including documents processed by senior officials.
Referring to the government’s Code of Conduct for appointees, he argued that the minister’s responsibility extended beyond documents bearing his personal signature.
“Even if the Chief Director writes the letter without his, then their own code of conduct says still responsible, you must still step aside,” he said.
He further questioned the minister’s ability to supervise the ministry if important documents could be forwarded without his knowledge.
“If your Chief Director can do something without telling you, then it means that you are a weak minister,” he added.
Prempeh said the minister’s decision to step aside would help protect the credibility of the investigation and address concerns about possible political influence or interference.
His comments add to growing calls from the opposition for accountability over the controversy, although the allegations surrounding the list have not been established as proven wrongdoing.
Questions about reported visa payments
Beyond the preparation and submission of the list, the NPP communicator raised concerns about the amounts reportedly paid by some applicants seeking to travel to the United States and Canada.
He questioned who received the money collected beyond the fees allegedly charged by private facilitators involved in the process.
According to Prempeh, reported payments ranged from $4,000 to $14,000, with some applicants allegedly claiming to have paid as much as $20,000.
“If they gave $3,000 to Tribe Culture Fest, who took the rest of the money?” he asked.
He called for the circumstances surrounding the reported payments to be examined to establish who received the funds and what services they were intended to cover.
The claims require investigation, and the reported amounts do not, on their own, establish that any individual or institution engaged in wrongdoing.
Background to the controversy
The controversy centres on a list of 90 people submitted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for US visa processing.
Reports about the matter have raised questions over the inclusion of individuals whose stated professional roles may not have corresponded with their actual occupations.
The case has also drawn attention to the procedures used to compile, verify and forward the list, as well as the respective responsibilities of officials and institutions involved.
The NPP has called for Kofi Adams to step aside and for a parliamentary investigation into the matter.
Prempeh’s latest intervention places particular emphasis on ministerial oversight, arguing that the investigation should establish not only whether irregularities occurred but also who was responsible for allowing them to happen.
The outcome of the investigations is expected to be crucial in determining whether any official or institution breached established procedures.
