Tribe Culture Fest CEO Denies Illegally Receiving $611,000, Challenges Sports Minister
Nana Boateng Gyimah, Chief Executive Officer of Tribe Culture Fest, has denied allegations by the Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, that he illegally received US$611,000 and is avoiding a refund.
Mr Gyimah has challenged the Minister to provide evidence to substantiate the claims, insisting that neither he nor Tribe Culture Fest received the alleged amount from any private individual in connection with the arrangements under investigation.
In a statement, he said the company’s contractual agreements were exclusively with the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).
“I categorically deny the allegations attributed to the Minister for Sports, Hon. Kofi Adams, that I or Tribe Culture Fest illegally received US$611,000 and are avoiding a refund,” he stated.
He added that the Minister must produce any agreement, authorisation or consent involving him or Tribe Culture Fest to establish the alleged financial arrangement.
The denial follows accusations by Mr Adams that Mr Gyimah was behind visa fraud allegations against him and other government officials, which were spearheaded by the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah.
According to the Minister, Mr Gyimah had been providing the MP with false information to divert public attention from funds he allegedly received under an agreement with the NSA to facilitate the transportation of Ghanaians to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Mr Adams alleged that the Tribe Culture Fest CEO had unlawfully obtained approximately US$611,000 and was advancing various narratives to avoid repaying the money.
He further claimed that the individual, identified during the interview as SFY, was deliberately pushing information into the public domain to obscure the circumstances surrounding the funds and evade repayment.
“He cannot run away with $611,000 of people’s money. We must make sure that we get him, and if it is found that right from the word go, he deceived the people, we must take the appropriate criminal actions,” the Minister said.
Mr Adams made the allegations during an interview on TV3 on October 11, 2026, while addressing the controversy surrounding a list of 90 people submitted for visa processing ahead of Ghana’s participation in the FIFA World Cup.
During the interview, he also disclosed details of communication between the US Embassy and his Ministry concerning the verification of four individuals presented as employees of the NSA.
He said the embassy had requested information about the four individuals in a submission made directly by the NSA on March 18, 2026, before the Ministry’s formal arrangement with the Authority began.
The Minister explained that he subsequently contacted the NSA’s Director-General to verify whether the individuals were genuine employees, requesting their staff identification numbers, salary levels, employment dates and duty stations.
According to him, the Director-General confirmed that the four individuals were not employees of the Authority, prompting him to respond to the embassy’s verification request.
“I signed and indicated that they are not known to the ministry and NSA,” Mr Adams said, explaining that his response was a verification note rather than a formal letter.
He stressed that the four individuals were part of an earlier submission and were not included in the 90-person list at the centre of the current controversy.
By Esther Padmore Amonoo
