Paralympic scandal: ‘I’d have included my family if I wanted to abscond’ – Ernest Ayisi

Ernest Ayisi, one of the persons accused of forging signatures to aid the visa applications of the Ghanaian para-athletes who absconded after travelling to Norway, has denied his involvement in the scandal.

The National Paralympic Committee (NPC) has come under strong criticism after it emerged that some para-athletes who travelled for the Fjordkraft Bergen City Marathon eloped after touching down in Oslo.

A statement from the Ministry of National Security said 11 athletes were supposed to show up for the marathon but failed to even register for the competition.

A member of the contingent was arrested trying to enter Sweden, while the team's coach, George Gyamfi Gyasi, also died at a hospital after collapsing.

Reacting to this, the president of the Paralympic Committee, Samson Deen, said he didn’t know anything about the team’s travel to Norway.

Ernest Ayisi denies forging signatures for Norway visas

He further revealed that he didn’t sign any letter to aid in their visa acquisition while naming Theodore Mawuli Viwotor and Ernest Ayisi as the persons responsible for forging his signature.

But responding to the allegations, Ayisi, who is the founder of the Ernestay Foundation, said he never signed any letter for the para-athletes and suggested that he’d have taken his family members to Norway if he had the power to convince the embassy.

“They [Norwegian Embassy in Accra] refused [for a visa]. They demanded a higher letter for the visa to be granted. Atongo [a member of the team] said he could get a letter [from NPC], which I did not see until they were about to travel,” he told Asempa FM, as quoted by Joy Sports.

"Deen [President of NPC] called me and Theo [former Secretary General of the Ghana Paralympic Football Association] on a conference call where we explained what happened and that Atongo had travelled with the team.

"My name is not on the list. I would have included my family if I wanted them to abscond. How can I forge a signature? I am illiterate. I explained to Deen, but he is adamant. The letter was from his office. Are people not working there? So why is he saying I have forged his signature? Ghanaians, I haven't done it. Samson Deen, I did not do it."

Meanwhile, the Paralympic Committee has reported the matter to the police, with investigations into the scandal ongoing.