Following the recent discovery of payroll discrepancies through an investigative report by the Fourth Estate, President John Dramani Mahama has taken decisive action to enhance transparency and accountability within the National Service Authority (NSA).
As a result, he has directed the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to launch an immediate inquiry into the Authority’s operations after identifying 81,885 suspected ghost names on its payroll.
The discrepancies came to light during a headcount of active National Service personnel, initiated by the Minister for Finance as a prerequisite for clearing outstanding allowance arrears dating back to August 2024. The audit revealed that the actual number of personnel was 98,145—significantly lower than the 180,030 names previously submitted by the former NSA management for allowance payments.
Following the headcount, the Ministry of Finance disbursed GHS 226,019,224 to cover the allowance arrears of the verified personnel. In light of these findings, President Mahama has tasked the new NSA management with implementing urgent reforms to strengthen internal controls and prevent future payroll fraud.
