Gifty Oware-Mensah Allegedly Enrolled Herself as NSS Personnel While Serving As Deputy NSA Boss

• Gifty Oware-Mensah has been implicated in the NSS scandal for allegedly enrolling herself as personnel
• The Auditor-General's report showed that she reportedly unlawfully siphoned GH¢6,708.48 from state coffers
• The audit also highlighted irregular payments totalling GH¢2.5 billion and weak control within the NSA systems

The former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, has allegedly been cited in yet another case in the ongoing National Service Secretariat (NSS) scandal.

According to the Technical and Forensic Audit Report conducted by the Auditor-General, Oware-Mensah enrolled herself as National Service Personnel (NSP) and received the regular GH¢559 per month allowance for a year, despite serving the same institution in a senior position.

Read also

Over 120,000 National Service Personnel received allowances for multiple years

The Auditor-General's report further indicated that the former Executive Director of the NSA, Mustapha Ussif, allegedly approved Oware-Mensah's NSS Personal Identification Number (PIN) on April 22, 2021.

Through this alleged corrupt scheme, the former senior manager reportedly siphoned GH¢6,708.48 from state coffers.

"The Deputy Executive Director of NSA, Miss Oware-Aboagye Gifty Afia [NSSGST4842621], was enrolled on March 16, 2021, and placed on the NSS payroll as an NSP, despite already being a full-time salaried public officer," the report stated.

Read also

AG files 21 charges against ex-Buffer Stock boss Hanan Abdul-Wahab and his wife over GH₵78M fraud

"She was placed on the payroll, and 100% of her monthly allowance for 12 months in the 2021/2022 service period, amounting to GH¢6,708.48 (GH¢559 x 12 months), was deducted and paid to a vendor through the 'Marketplace' for a purported credit facility."

According to the report, Oware-Mensah's enrolment was based on a Master of Public Administration degree she acquired from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

"She was enrolled as a service person along with 4,556 others, irregularly costing GH¢899,350. Mustapha Ussif approved her PIN on April 22, 2021," the report stated.

Read excerpts of the Auditor-General's report below:

Other highlights of the Forensic Audit Report

The Auditor-General's Forensic Audit Report on the NSA scandal also indicated that the total financial 'irregularities' over the period were GH¢2.5 billion.

It added that over GH¢1 billion was in payments exceeding 13 months, with GH¢989 million paid to personnel without the required biometric or monthly attendance verification.

Read also

Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings: NPP mourns the passing of Ghana's former First Lady

There was also GH¢302 million paid to vendors without contracts, invoices, or evidence of work done, according to the report.

The audit also found the software used by the NSA to be fit for purpose despite some weaknesses, adding that the institution deliberately bypassed controls built into the application.

Gifty Oware-Mensah charged for stealing

YEN.com.gh also reported that the Ghanaian government had levelled charges against two former appointees of the National Service Authority.

The duo implicated are Gifty Oware-Mensah, the former Deputy Executive Director, and Osei Assibey Antwi, the former Executive Director.

Amid the probe into the scandal, the former National Service Authority bosses are accused of authorising payments to 60,000 'ghost' employees.

Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh