The Chargé d’Affaires of the Colombian Embassy in Ghana, Claudia Milena Vaca, has sent a formal communication to the organiser of last month’s inaugural African Para Games in Accra.
The letter serves as a protest regarding outstanding bills related to a website development project handled by a Bogotá-based company.
Claudia Milena Vaca, who assumed her role as a representative of Colombia in Ghana last year, has taken up the issue concerning Altheroh, one of several companies that have yet to receive payment for services rendered in connection with the Games.
The African Para Games were coordinated by the African Paralympic Committee (APC), led by President Samson Deen, a native of Ghana.
Due to non-payment for their services, Altheroh decided to take the event website offline on the eve of the Games’ opening.
“The Colombian company Altheroh has informed the diplomatic mission in Ghana and me that you and the company you represent have failed to meet the minimum that of 30,000 dollars for the more than four months of work and services,” Vaca wrote to Deen.
“We all hope the African Paralympic Games will always be remembered in Accra, but also in Colombia, as a positive event that benefits all and make us proud.
Altheroh contacted Vaca after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) refused to intervene in the dispute.
They claimed, that “these are matters that need to be resolved between the respective unpaid companies and the organising Committee.”
However, Deen’s response did not exhibit any inclination towards resolving the outstanding debt. Instead, he has asserted that Altheroh was responsible for the issues at hand.
Altheroh, in a very crude manner, pulled down the website and shut down everything to destabilise the Games planning,” Deen wrote in a reply to Vaca.
Deen, who is also President of the National Paralympic Committee of Ghana, claimed that he was “shocked to receive such a wicked attack against me.”
Deen added, “I never expected such a vicious fight against me, and I remain in shock when I have always meant so much for Altheroh.”
InsidetheGames is also among companies not to have been paid, despite signing a contract with the Ghanaian organisers.