NSS Ghost Names Scandal: Gifty Oware-Mensah Charged for Stealing Over GH¢38m as ORAL Bites
- The Ghanaian government has levelled charges against two former appointees of the National Service Authority
- Gifty Oware-Mensah is a former Deputy Executive Director, and Osei Assibey Antwi is a former Executive Director
- The former National Service Authority boss is being accused of authorising payments to 60,000 ghost names
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Gifty Oware-Mensah, a former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority, has been arraigned before the High Court in Accra on multiple charges in the NSS ghost names scandal.
These charges include stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, and abuse of public office.
Source: Facebook
Ghost names scandal: former NSA employee charged
3News reported that Oware-Mensah allegedly misappropriated GH¢38,458,248.87 between February 2022 and March 2024 while overseeing finance, audit, and procurement at the National Service Authority.
Prosecutors said she dishonestly transferred GH¢31.5 million from a loan facility meant to support National Service Personnel into the account of her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, under the pretext of supplying goods on a hire-purchase basis.
The former Executive Director of the National Service Authority, Osei Assibey Antwi, was charged with 14 counts, including causing financial loss to the Republic, stealing, and money laundering, in a case involving more than GH¢600 million.
According to a charge sheet filed at the High Court in Accra, the former National Service Authority boss is accused of authorising payments to over 60,000 non-existent national service personnel and misappropriating public funds during his tenure between August 2021 and February 2025.
Antwi is facing multiple counts under sections 179A(1) and 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and section 1(2)(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).
Breakdown of charges against Oware-Mensah
Oware-Mensah, who was previously detained, is accused of stealing GH¢31,502,091.40 belonging to the National Service Authority.
She is also accused of:
- Willfully causing financial loss to the state through the fake hire-purchase arrangement
- Abuse of public office for personal gain
- Money laundering through the transfer of funds into personal and affiliated accounts
According to court documents, funds were secured through an agreement with the Agricultural Development Bank.
The repayments were expected to be deducted from the allowances of 9,934 National Service Personnel, all of whom were later discovered to be fictitious.
Part of the misappropriated funds was traced to Amaecom Global Company, where Oware-Mensah was also a director, and other companies linked to her.
Breakdown of charges against Osei Assibey Antwi
On Count One, prosecutors allege that Antwi willfully caused financial loss of GH¢500,861,744.02 by authorising the payment of allowances to over 60,000 'ghost' service personnel between August 2021 and February 2025.
He also faces six counts of stealing, with the prosecution claiming that between August 2023 and May 2024, he dishonestly appropriated millions belonging to the National Service Authority.
The alleged thefts include:
- GH¢3.6 million on August 22, 2023
- GH¢516,000 each on September 11, October 26, and November 23, 2023
- GH¢1.03 million on December 18, 2023
- GH¢2.06 million on May 14, 2024
Source: Facebook
Prosecutors also allege that between January 2022 and December 2024, Antwi caused an additional GH¢8.26 million loss to the state by authorising transfers from the authority's Control Account to his personal e-zwich card account, according to a Fourth Estate report.
This transaction also forms the basis of a money laundering charge, with the state alleging that he knowingly took possession of funds that were proceeds of unlawful activity.
The charge sheet also cites unauthorised withdrawals from the Kumawu Farm Project account, amounting to GH¢74 million, which prosecutors say were not used for their intended purpose.
Specifically, Antwi is accused of: withdrawing GH¢55 million on September 30, 2022; withdrawing GH¢15 million on October 20, 2023; and withdrawing GH¢4 million on January 24, 2024 - all allegedly without expending the funds on the project.
The 11 accused persons in NSS scandal
In all, 13 persons are expected to be charged in connection with the scandal, which led to losses of GH¢548 million.
A headcount of National Service Scheme beneficiaries showed 81,885 ghost names on the payroll.
A Fourth Estate investigation also noted thousands of ghost names under the scheme.
This prompted President John Mahama to order the National Investigations Bureau to probe the National Service Authority.
The 11 accused persons fingered in the GH¢548 million NSS payroll fraud cases, as disclosed by the Attorney General, are:
- Gifty Oware-Mensah, former Deputy Executive Director
- Mustapha Ussif, former Executive Director
- Osei Assibey Antwi, former Director General
- Kwaku Ohene Gyan, former Deputy Executive Director for Operations
- Abraham Bismarck Gaise, former Internal Auditor
- Kwaku Adjei, Account Officer
- Iddrisu Abubakar, former Head of Accounts
- Stephen Kwabena Gyamfi, former Regional Director for Koforidua
- Prince Awuku, District Director
- Jacob Yawson, Management Information Systems Administrator in the Northern Region
- Two additional unnamed suspects (to be added once formally identified)
ORAL identifies $21B in suspected looted funds
YEN.com.gh also reported that the ORAL Preparatory Committee had identified $21.19 billion in potential recoveries.
The Preparatory Committee had handed over its report to Ghana's President, John Mahama, on February 2, 2025.
The ORAL team was launched on December 18, 2024, with Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa appointed as the chairman.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
