The information gathered reveals at least more individuals have been named as persons of interest in the NSS ghost name scandal.
Honourable Mustapha Ussif, Akufo-Addo’s first NSS CEO, Henry Nana Boakye a board member of the NSS, Gifty Oware, Kwaku Ohene Djan, Osei Assibey Antwi are among the 5 fingered in the NSS ghost scandal.
The public has placed more focus on the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Gifty Oware-Mensah who according to reports oversaw the payment of some allowances into the accounts of 81,885 ghost service personnel.
According to reports about 17 persons could likely be invited for questioning as the NSS ghost name scandal started from 2017 to 2024 when they were exposed.
The John Mahama government has announced it has discovered 81,885 ghost names on the National Service payroll.
The ghost names were detected following a head count of active National Service personnel at the behest of the Minister for Finance.
The headcount of National Service personnel shows, that 98,145 actual National Service personnel were entitled to the allowances, significantly lower than the 180,030 names.
The revelation from the government follows an investigation by the Fourth Estate which alleged a scandal at the NSS last year.
President John Dramani Mahama has ordered the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to investigate the NSS ‘ghost names’ scandal.
This comes following allegations of 81,885 suspected ghost names on the payroll under the previous government.
A statement from the presidency reads, “President John Dramani Mahama has ordered the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to conduct immediate investigations into the operations of the National Service Authority under the previous government following the discovery of up to 81,885 suspected ghost names on the payroll of the Authority.
The ghost names were detected following a head count of active National Service personnel at the behest of the Minister for Finance as a prerequisite for the clearance of allowance arrears dating back to August 2024”.
The statement added, “The Ministry of Finance has upon the completion of the head count, released an amount of GHS 226,019,224 covering allowance payment arrears for 98,145 actual National Service Personnel.
This figure is 81,885 less than the 180,030 names presented by the previous management of the Authority for allowance payment in 2024”.
President Mahama further tasked the new management of the Authority to carry out urgent reforms with the view of establishing adequate controls to prevent a recurrence of the phenomenon of ghost names.
