Two former top officials of the National Service Authority (NSA) have been charged in connection with what prosecutors describe as one of Ghana’s biggest corruption scandals, allegedly causing the state to lose more than GH¢653 million.
The Attorney-General’s Department has filed criminal charges at the High Court in Accra against the former Executive Director, Osei Assibey Antwi, and former Deputy Executive Director, Gifty Oware-Mensah, for their alleged roles in separate but related financial schemes involving ghost service personnel and fraudulent loans.
According to the charge sheet, Osei Assibey Antwi authorised payments to more than 60,000 non-existent national service personnel between August 2021 and February 2025, resulting in a loss of GH¢500,861,744.02 to the state.
He is also accused of stealing over GH¢8.2 million between August 2023 and May 2024 and diverting GH¢106 million from the NSA’s Kumawu Farm Project without any expenditure on the initiative.
Prosecutors further allege that he transferred GH¢8.26 million into his personal e-zwich account, knowing the funds were proceeds of crime.
In total, the alleged financial loss attributed to him stands at GH¢615 million. He faces 14 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, and money laundering.
Gifty Oware-Mensah has also been charged with five counts, including stealing, willfully causing financial loss, and money laundering.
The prosecution claims she created 9,934 ghost names in the NSA’s database and used her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, to secure a GH¢31.5 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
She allegedly claimed the company had supplied goods on a hire-purchase basis to service personnel, but investigations revealed that the names were fake and no goods were supplied.
Funds from the facility were paid into her company’s account and later transferred to other firms linked to her, causing a total loss of GH¢38,458,248.87 to the state.
Both former officials are expected to appear before the Accra High Court this week for their pleas to be taken.
The case follows months of investigation by the National Intelligence Bureau and the Attorney-General’s Office into widespread financial irregularities at the National Service Authority.
