The Fourth Estate has uncovered a major fraud scheme at the National Service Authority (NSA), where officials allegedly bypassed mandatory validation procedures to add thousands of nonexistent names to the payroll.
This loophole enabled the diversion of millions of Ghana cedis in allowances meant for legitimate national service personnel. Reports indicate that since 2018, a staggering GHC2.2 billion has been siphoned from the public purse.
Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, exposed a Kenyan national, Emmanuel Mutio, who was fraudulently registered in the National Service system under the name Kwame Donkor. The suspect, reportedly 72 years old according to system records, is listed as a Human Resource Manager.
NSS Scandal: MFWA Executive Director Sulemana Braimah exposes a Kenyan named Kwame Donkor in the National Service system. #TheKeyPoints
pic.twitter.com/TS0xB4N0WN — #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) February 17, 2025
Additionally, 226 students with identical names, academic programs, and universities were discovered in the system, raising further concerns about widespread irregularities.
NSS Scandal: 226 students with the same name, same programme and same university identified in the National Service system.#TV3GH #TheKeyPoints pic.twitter.com/rxglVYwUry
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) February 17, 2025
President John Mahama has directed a full-scale investigation into the scandal following a report submitted by the Operation Retrieve All Loot (ORAL) initiative.
