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Tag: NSS scandal

  • Ghana losing GHC2.2bn to ghost names including 72-year-old Kenyan in NSS scandal

    Ghana losing GHC2.2bn to ghost names including 72-year-old Kenyan in NSS scandal

    An investigation by The Fourth Estate into alleged corruption within the National Service Authority’s (NSA) payroll has revealed that Ghana may have lost approximately GHS 2.2 billion between 2018 and 2024/25 due to ghost names.

    “A comparison of figures put out by the NSA to the public for each service year and what was presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education since 2019 reveals a systematic pattern of significantly inflated figures,” The Fourth Estate reported.

    According to the investigation, in the 2018/2019 National Service Year (NSS), the NSA had a total of 85,708 eligible personnel but presented 135,603 to Parliament, inflating the payroll with 49,895 ghost names.

    In the 2019/2020 service year, 77,962 personnel were eligible, yet 114,036 were reported, adding 36,074 ghost names to the payroll, costing a potential annual loss of GHS 334.7 million.

    Similarly, in 2020/2021, 86,078 personnel were eligible, but 125,050 were recorded, creating 38,972 ghost names, with Ghana losing about GHS 242 million per year.

    For 2021/2022, the NSA reported 110,324 deployed personnel instead of the actual 81,081, leading to 29,243 ghost names and a potential loss of GHS 261.4 million.

    In 2022/2023, the reported figure of 179,309, compared to the actual 115,240, resulted in 64,069 ghost names and a potential loss of GHS 429.8 million.

    The 2023/2024 service year saw 122,275 eligible personnel, but 182,142 were declared, adding 59,867 ghost names to the payroll. For 2024/2025, the NSA announced 180,030 eligible personnel but deployed only 98,145, leading to 81,885 ghost names.

    Over seven years, these discrepancies have resulted in losses exceeding GHS 2.2 billion.The report also uncovered additional irregularities, including foreign nationals appearing on the payroll.

    One case involved a 72-year-old Kenyan, Kwame Donkor, who was added without an official ID card—an unusual practice. Instead, a photo was used, but The Fourth Estate found through a reverse image search that the picture belonged to Emmanuel Mutio, a Human Resource Manager at a private IT company in Kenya.

    Another alarming discovery was the repeated use of the same name 226 times on the payroll as a registered beneficiary.

    During a media appearance on February 17, 2025, Kwaku Krobea Asante, Manager of the Independent Journalism Project under the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), described the findings as shocking.

    “Beyond that, we see how they do this—how they pack the payroll with ghost names, which is what the story is trying to expose. How they use over-age individuals, some as old as 80 or 90 years, to falsify records. How they create fake index numbers in the name of universities to justify these names,” he stated.

    Following these revelations, President John Dramani Mahama has ordered an investigation into the suspected ghost names on the NSA payroll.

    According to Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the president’s spokesperson and Minister of Government Communications, a recent headcount of national service personnel revealed possible fraudulent entries.

    Meanwhile, former executives of the National Service Authority (NSA) have rejected accusations from the investigative report by The Fourth Estate. They called the report misleading and sensationalized.

    Former Director-General Osei Assibey Antwi and former Executive Director Mustapha Ussif said the report misrepresents how the NSA handles enrolment and payments.

  • NSS Scandal: 72-year-old Kenyan, other ‘oldies’ names discovered on NSA payroll

    NSS Scandal: 72-year-old Kenyan, other ‘oldies’ names discovered on NSA payroll

    An investigation by The Fourth Estate has revealed serious irregularities in the National Service Authority (NSA) payroll, including the name of a 72-year-old Kenyan, Kwame Donkor, who was wrongly listed as a beneficiary.

    The investigation found that Donkor was added to the payroll without an official ID card, which is unusual. Instead, a photo was used. However, when The Fourth Estate ran a reverse image search, they discovered that the photo actually belonged to Emmanuel Mutio, a Human Resource Manager at a private IT company in Kenya.

    Another shocking finding was that the same name appeared on the payroll 226 times as a registered beneficiary.

    The Fourth Estate initially uncovered the issue in November 2024, but the NSA obtained a court order preventing them from publishing the findings. After the court later lifted the injunction, the report was finally released. The investigation examined payroll records from 2017 to 2023, as well as the 2024 national service year.

    Speaking on Channel One TV, Kwaku Krobea Asante, Manager of the Independent Journalism Project under the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), described the findings as alarming.

    He noted that the payroll included names of people over 80 or 90 years old, along with fake index numbers, raising concerns about widespread fraud.

    “Ghost names in the sense that what the NSA tells us as the number of personnel is different from what they have in their data. This data, we believe, eventually makes its way into the payroll and gets paid. Now, the government has confirmed this.”

    “Beyond that, we see how they do this—how they pack the payroll with ghost names, which is what the story is trying to expose. How they use over-age individuals, some as old as 80 or 90 years, to falsify records. How they create fake index numbers in the name of universities to justify these names.”

    “Funny names keep appearing—a single name could be repeated 226 times. Such a person supposedly completed the same university, studied the same program, in the same year, and was deployed multiple times. A lot of oddities in the data suggest that these entries were deliberately manipulated.”

    President Mahama has ordered an investigation into suspected fake names on the National Service Authority (NSA) payroll.

    According to Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the president’s spokesperson and Minister of Government Communications, a recent headcount of national service personnel revealed possible ghost names.

    This verification process was done at the request of Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson as part of efforts to clear outstanding allowances dating back to August 2024.

    After completing the headcount, the Finance Ministry released GHS 226,019,224 to pay 98,145 verified 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,” the minister’s statement said.

  • NSA secures another injunction against The Fourth Estate’s exposé

    NSA secures another injunction against The Fourth Estate’s exposé

    National Service Authority (NSA) has gone to court for the second time, seeking to secure another injunction to prevent The Fourth Estate from publishing a series of investigative stories scheduled for release this month.

    The officials of the Authority say should the court allow the Media Foundation for West Africa’s accountability journalism project, The Fourth Estate, to publish an investigation it conducted into its activities without hearing its side of the story, it would suffer “irreparable harm.”

    “That the reputations of the applicant [NSA] and its management will be soiled if the respondents [MFWA and others] are allowed to proceed with their threatened publication, and if it later turns out to be a false story, the injury and reputational damage occasioned cannot be reversed,” the NSA prayed the court.

    The Fourth Estate has made several attempts to engage with officials from the National Security Authority (NSA) by sending official letters, meeting in person, and making phone calls to offer them a chance to respond to the investigative findings.

    Despite these efforts, NSA officials have delayed and instead turned to legal action to stop the publications.

    On December 2, 2024, just 12 hours before the first report was set to be published, a court bailiff served an injunction to the Media Foundation for West Africa, the organization behind The Fourth Estate. The injunction was filed by the NSA, blocking the publication of the investigative reports.

    The 10-day injunction ended on December 12, 2024, but the NSA has gone back to court, seeking further legal action. This time, they are asking the court to stop The Fourth Estate from publishing the reports on social media, newspapers, or any other platforms until the NSA is included in the process.

    The NSA officials also want the court to order The Fourth Estate to retract its yet-to-be-published report on all social media platforms or newspapers.

    They also want The Fourth Estate to bear the cost of the litigation.