Former National Service Authority (NSA) directors involved in the recent ghost names controversy will face official charges in the first week of May 2025, according to Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine.
This comes after President John Dramani Mahama ordered a thorough probe into the 81,885 probable ghost names found on the NSA payroll. Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Minister of Government Communications and Presidential Spokesperson, said the discrepancy was discovered during a national headcount of active national service members.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the finance minister, ordered the audit as part of an attempt to settle and reconcile unpaid service allowance arrears that go back to August 2024. In November 2024, The Fourth Estate published an investigative article that initially raised awareness of the problem.
Osei Assibey Antwi, the former Executive Director of the NSA, was questioned by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) on March 20 for his suspected role in the payroll fraud. He was invited to be questioned and was escorted by his attorney.
“The investigations into the National Service ghost names scandal have advanced well,” Dr. Ayine told reporters in Accra on Wednesday, April 30. And starting in the first week of May—I mean, just a few days from now—we will be bringing charges against some of the individuals involved.
The Attorney General also said that charges will soon be brought by the government in other high-profile cases, such as the Senior High School WiFi project, the National Cathedral, the Sky Train project, and the purchase of mathematical sets. Dockets for prosecution in these cases are now being prepared, he said.
