CEO Tribe Culture Fest denies Sports Minister's claim of illegally receiving $611,000 and avoiding a refund

Nana Boateng Gyimah, the CEO of Tribe Culture Fest, has denied an allegation made by the Sports Minister of illegally receiving $611,000 and avoiding a refund.

He challenged the Minister to produce the evidence supporting his claims.

"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 avoiding a refund.

"For the record, Tribe Culture's agreement was solely with the National Sports Authority and Ghana Tourism Authority. Neither I nor Tribe Culture Fest received the alleged US$611,000 from any private individual in connection with the arrangements in question.

"I challenge the Minister to produce the evidence supporting his claims. He must provide any agreement, authorisation or consent involving me or Tribe Culture that establishes the alleged financial arrangement," he said in a statement.

The Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, had accused Nana Boateng Gyimah of being behind the visa fraud allegations against him and other government officials, led by the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah.

According to him, Boateng Gyimah has been giving the MP false information to divert attention from money he illegally collected under an agreement between his company and the National Sports Authority (NSA) to transport Ghanaians to the 2026 World Cup, which he is supposed to refund.

He claimed that the CEO took about $611,000 illegally and is now driving all sorts of narratives to avoid refunding the money.

Kofi Adams said the individual, identified in the interview as SFY, was pushing information into the public domain to cloud the circumstances surrounding the money and avoid refunding it.

"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 stated.

In an interview on TV3 on October 11, 2026, on the controversy surrounding a list of 90 people submitted for visa processing ahead of Ghana's participation in the FIFA World Cup, Adams also disclosed details of communication involving the US Embassy and his ministry over the verification of four individuals presented as

According to him, the embassy had requested information on 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 said that he subsequently contacted the NSA's Director-General to establish whether the individuals were genuine employees and requested their staff identification numbers, salary levels, employment dates and duty stations.

He said the Director-General informed him that the four individuals were not NSA employees, prompting him to respond to the verification request.

"I signed and indicated that they are not known to the ministry and NSA," he said, explaining that his response was a verification note rather than a formal letter.

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The minister stressed that the four individuals belonged to an earlier submission and were not part of the 90-person list at the centre of the current controversy.