President John Dramani Mahama has directed the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to launch an immediate investigation into the operations of the National Service Authority following the discovery of 81,885 suspected ghost names on its payroll.
The irregularities were detected after a nationwide headcount of active National Service personnel, which was initiated by the Minister for Finance as a prerequisite for clearing outstanding allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.
Following the audit, the Ministry of Finance has disbursed GHȼ226,019,224 to cover allowance arrears for 98,145 actual National Service personnel.
This number is significantly lower than the 180,030 names submitted for payment by the Authority’s previous management in 2024.
In addition to the investigation, President Mahama has tasked the newly appointed management of the National Service Authority with implementing urgent reforms to strengthen internal controls and prevent similar incidents in the future.
This was in a press statement dated Wednesday, February 12, 2025 singed by the Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu.
