Allow state agencies to probe ‘ghost names scandal’ – NSA boss

The Director General of the National Service Authority (NSA), Felix Gyamfi, has urged The Fourth Estate to allow state agencies to complete their investigations into the ghost names scandal before drawing conclusions.

His remarks follow President John Dramani Mahama’s directive for an inquiry into 81,885 suspected ghost names on the NSA payroll.

Presidential Spokesperson and Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, stated that the irregularities were uncovered during a headcount of active national service personnel.

The audit was initiated at the request of the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, as part of efforts to clear outstanding allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.

The scandal was first exposed in an investigative report by The Fourth Estate in November 2024, which revealed discrepancies between the officially announced number of eligible personnel and those actually deployed between 2018 and 2024.

For instance, in the 2017–2018 period, while 91,871 personnel were announced, only 88,939 were deployed, leaving a shortfall of 2,932. Additionally, several names were repeated multiple times in the NSA’s records, and individuals over 90 years old were registered for national service.

Speaking on The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV, Mr. Gyamfi described these findings as “shocking” but warned that the credibility of the case could be undermined if the reported figures turned out to be inaccurate.

He urged The Fourth Estate to exercise patience and allow security agencies to verify the claims before making final conclusions.

“It’s shocking, despicable to say the least, but I have said in earlier discussions that The Fourth Estate has put out an allegation and it’s an allegation until it’s proven by the state. I think they should allow the state agencies to do the investigations as they should

“And then let the information come out properly. The president has asked the Bureau of National Investigations to do a proper investigation. My fear and worry is that there is a certain feeling that there are ghost names. But we want to secure convictions if the crimes have been committed by individuals.

“However, if we put numbers out that would turn out not to be true, the case would lose its credibility. And I’m beginning to be afraid about it.”