Auditor-General Moves to Recover GH¢2.4bn After Exposing Massive NSA Fraud
The Office of the Auditor-General has activated its constitutional mandate to surcharge former senior officials of the National Service Authority (NSA) and their partners after uncovering what it describes as an elaborate plot that siphoned GH¢2.4 billion from public funds.
A Technical and Forensic Audit of NSA operations from January 2018 to December 2024, submitted to Parliament on October 1, uncovered a network of schemes the Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, says were deliberately crafted to drain money meant for National Service Personnel.
Letters have already been issued to individuals implicated in the scandal, demanding they refund the amounts unless they can provide justification.
According to Mr. Akuamoah Asiedu, the authority’s Director-General, Osei Assibey Antwi, and his deputy, Gifty Oware-Mensah, were central figures in the fraudulent activities.
He explained that the evidence points to a coordinated plan designed to illegally divert funds, insisting that every available legal mechanism, particularly Article 187(7) of the Constitution, will be used to recover the money.
“We are duty-bound to use every power under the law, particularly Article 187(7) of the 1992 Constitution, to recover every pesewa for the state.”
The surcharge process, he clarified, will run independently of criminal proceedings being pursued by the Attorney-General.
One of the most startling discoveries was a virtual marketplace supposedly created to allow National Service Personnel (NSP) to buy items on credit, with deductions taken from their allowances.
The audit, however, concluded that the “customers” did not exist.
Forensic analysis revealed that GH¢301.6 million was transferred to 32 vendor accounts through the Ezwich and Ghanapay platforms. More than half of that amount, about GH¢169 million went to a single institution, Direct Savings and Loans Ltd, through 151 transactions tied to accounts named “DSLCONSUM” and “NSSDSLCOUM.”
The investigators found no contracts, no delivery records, no board approvals and noted that the entire initiative fell outside the NSA’s legal mandate. A woman believed to be key to the operation has reportedly admitted to withdrawing cash and handing it to the Deputy Director-General, while the developer of the platform has also confessed to his involvement.
The audit also uncovered shocking instances where top officials registered themselves as service personnel.
Osei Assibey Antwi allegedly enlisted as a “voluntary” national service person and collected GH¢516,000 monthly for 16 months, amounting to GH¢8.2 million.
His deputy also registered as a service personnel, collecting allowances on top of her salary as Deputy Director-General.
The Auditor-General described this as a blatant abuse of office and a conflict of interest.
The report demands full documentation to justify the GH¢301.6 million paid to vendors. Failure to do so will lead to recovery of the entire amount with interest at the prevailing Bank of Ghana rate.
Mr. Akuamoah Asiedu confirmed that the surcharge process targeting the two former officials and the implicated vendors has officially commenced.
The audit also identified payments amounting to GH¢1.97 million to individuals who were either below the minimum service age of 18 or above 60.
In one bizarre case, a person listed on the payroll was recorded as 1,027 years old.
Additionally, GH¢2.2 million in payments was made to two companies owned by a current NSA Board Member for “monitoring and evaluation,” a clear violation of procurement rules and ethical standards.
