Former executives of the National Service Authority (NSA), formerly National Service Secretariat (NSS) have dismissed allegations made in a recent investigative report by The Fourth Estate, describing it as misleading and sensationalized.
The report accused the NSA of inflating personnel figures, enabling ghost names on the payroll, and failing to properly verify service personnel. However, a press release signed by former Director-General Osei Assibey Antwi and former Executive Director Mustapha Ussif refuted the claims, stating that the report misrepresented the NSA’s enrolment and payment processes.
According to the former officials, The Fourth Estate’s assertion that NSA budget figures differ significantly from publicly available data is inaccurate. They argued that the investigative team relied solely on general enrolment figures from September and failed to account for additional personnel, such as nursing and teacher trainees, who are later enrolled through special programs.
They clarified that while budgets submitted to Parliament reflect the total personnel posted, not all of them end up on the payroll. This is because some personnel fail verification processes or do not report for service. Payments, they explained, are activated only after stringent verification, with verified personnel receiving allowances through the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), a subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana.
Addressing allegations of foreign nationals, overaged individuals, and persons with fake IDs being included in the NSA system, the former executives stated that such discrepancies occur only during the entry stage. These inconsistencies, they noted, are eliminated during regional verification processes involving biometric and facial recognition checks, ensuring that unqualified individuals are disqualified before payroll activation.
The former executives also criticised The Fourth Estate for not consulting GhIPSS to confirm whether any flagged names from the investigation actually received allowances. They described the investigation as hurried and biased, suggesting it was designed to damage their reputations rather than uncover the truth.
Despite their objections to the report, the ex-officials expressed support for President John Mahama’s directive for an official investigation into the matter. They expressed confidence that a thorough investigation would disprove the allegations and provide clarity on the true state of affairs.
An expose from the Fourth Estate 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.
