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Introduction
A scandal has rocked Ghana’s public service machinery, exposing what authorities now describe as a sprawling criminal enterprise within the National Service Authority (NSA). This scandal appears to be a network of state officials and private vendors accused of siphoning over GH¢548 million from public coffers over a seven-year service period. This revelation emerged from a four-month investigation spearheaded by the Attorney-General’s department, following a directive under President John Mahama’s anti-corruption drive known as Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL). The Attorney General made these revelations during a press conference on Friday, June 13, 2025. This explainer seeks to bring an understanding of the scandal and the revelations made by the Attorney General.
The genesis of the scandal
Established under NRCD 208 and later reformed under Act 1119 of 2024, the National Service Authority is mandated to instil discipline, civic responsibility, and patriotism in Ghana’s youth through national service. However, the recent findings suggest that some of its former top officials did quite the opposite, using the institution as a shell for embezzlement.
The scandal was initially unearthed by The Fourth Estate, whose investigative journalism prompted the ORAL investigations.
The modus operandi: a systematic looting
According to the Attorney General, the criminal scheme was multilayered and carefully orchestrated:
- Ghost Personnel Fraud:
Between 2018 and 2024, over 63,672 ghost names were embedded in the NSA payroll. These “ghosts” were paid allowances despite never existing on the verified personnel register. - E-Zwich Payment Scam:
Funds were disbursed to E-Zwich cards tied to these ghost names, and physical searches revealed that former Director-General Osei Assibey Antwi personally held one such card, which received GH¢8.2 million in the service year 2022/2023. - Budget Inflation and Diversion:
Former NSA directors reportedly inflated annual personnel budgets and redirected excess funds to private accounts under the guise of project execution. - Vendor Collusion:
Several vendors colluded with NSA staff to inflate numbers and bill for non-existent services or goods. Payments were then funnelled back to NSA executives in cash or bank transfers.
The scale of the “HEIST”
The documented losses over the years reveal a clear upward trend in financial theft, with figures steadily increasing across successive service years. In 2018/19, the loss stood at GH¢25.8 million, followed by GH¢21.6 million in 2019/20. The amount surged to GH¢55.6 million in 2020/21 and further to GH¢61.3 million in 2021/22. A significant spike occurred in 2022/23, with losses skyrocketing to GH¢350.9 million, accounting for over 64% of the total theft recorded. Although the figure dropped in 2023/24 to GH¢32.8 million, it still reflects a concerning trend in financial mismanagement or theft.
The key players: Names behind the numbers
At least 12 top-level NSA staff and several vendors have been named for prosecution, key among them include:
Gifty Oware-Mensah
Gifty Oware-Mensah is a former deputy executive director of the National Service Authority. She is alleged to have masterminded a fraudulent scheme that resulted in the misappropriation of over GH¢30 million in public funds. According to the Attorney General, she exploited the National Service Personnel (NSP) allowance system by using it as collateral to secure a GH¢30 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at an interest rate of 23%.
She allegedly registered a company, “Blocks of Life Consult,” using the identities of unsuspecting individuals without their knowledge, and presented it to ADB through a middleman, Maxwell Akwesi Ofori-Mintah. Her husband, Peter Mensah, a lawyer, was named as one of the company’s representatives.
During the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 service years, Oware-Mensah is said to have used 9,934 ghost names to divert the funds after the loan was disbursed. The money was then allegedly transferred into four company accounts: AMAECOM, Scafold, OTCHEY, and Aristo Logistics and Trading.
Eric Nyarko and Iddrisu Ibn Abu-Bakr
Eric Nyarko and Iddrisu Ibn Abu-Bakr were former heads of accounts of the NSA. They also played key roles in the fraudulent payroll scheme uncovered during the investigation. According to the Attorney General’s briefing, Eric Nyarko, from 2017 until April 2024, and Iddrisu Ibn Abu-Bakr, who took over from April to December 2024, was responsible for preparing and transmitting National Service Personnel (NSP) payroll data to the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS) for the payment of allowances.
These payroll submissions included tens of thousands of ghost names, resulting in payments to individuals who did not exist or were not part of the legitimate service personnel. The inclusion of ghost names allowed for the diversion of state funds into private accounts, benefiting not only themselves but also other directors, staff, and vendors complicit in the scheme.
The Attorney General revealed that the scheme could not have been executed without the approval of successive NSA Director-Generals, including Mustapha Yussif, Gifty Oware-Mensah (in an acting capacity), and Osei Assibey Antwi.
Vendors such as Rose Hamilton, owner of Marine Ventures, Isaac Asamani, owner of Option Buy, and Sylvia Ntriwa Opare, owner of Sylsona, received payments without substantiating the services provided.
Mustafa Yussif
Mr. Yussif is the current Member of Parliament for the Yagaba-Kubori Constituency. He is a former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), serving from 2017 to February 2021. He is implicated in the scandal for authorising and overseeing activities that enabled large-scale financial malfeasance during his tenure.
According to the Attorney General’s press briefing, he was one of the Director-Generals under whose authority National Service Personnel (NSP) payroll data was prepared and transmitted to the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS) for allowance payments. Investigators discovered that fraudulent payrolls containing fictitious names were submitted under his supervision. These ghost names were used to siphon public funds into private accounts.
Osei Assibey Antwi
Mr. Antwi, who served as Director-General of the National Service Authority (NSA) from September 2021 to January 2025, is also implicated as a central figure in the widespread corruption scandal uncovered at the NSA.
He is alleged to have overseen and approved the fraudulent payroll system used to divert public funds. Under his leadership, ghost names were systematically added to the National Service Personnel (NSP) payroll, allowing funds meant for allowances to be misappropriated.
Investigations revealed that after ghost names were used to inflate the payroll, the overpaid funds were sometimes handed directly to him in cash or deposited into his personal bank account. Specifically, in the 2022/2023 service year alone, GH¢8,256,000.00 was deposited into an E-Zwich account (1177042059) registered in his name, which was found during a search of his residence.
Charges and consequences
The suspects are expected to face charges including theft, conspiracy to steal, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, and using public office for profit. Meanwhile, some vendors are being granted non-prosecution agreements in exchange for serving as state witnesses, with their identities withheld for their protection. The Attorney-General also disclosed that asset recovery efforts are underway, with investigations to trace illegally obtained properties and wealth.
The bigger picture
This scandal strikes at the core of Ghana’s credibility in its public institutions. What was meant to be a patriotic rite of passage for Ghana’s youth turned into an alleged ghost-laden cash cow for these officials. As the legal wheels turn, the public awaits justice and meaningful reforms to ensure the NSA never becomes a pipeline for fraud again.
Conclusion
The National Service Authority scandal serves as a poignant reminder of how systemic corruption, when left unchecked, can erode the institutions tasked with upholding civic responsibility and national development. What began as an initiative to foster patriotism among Ghana’s youth became, for some officials, a vehicle for large-scale embezzlement and abuse of public trust. With over GH¢548 million lost, and key figures such as Gifty Oware-Mensah and Osei Assibey Antwi facing serious charges, the case underscores the urgent need for institutional reforms, digital accountability, and stronger oversight in public service operations.
