The Fourth Estate exposes key NSA figures in ghost names scandal

Kwaku Krobea Asante, an investigative journalist with The Fourth Estate, has identified the officials who oversaw the National Service Authority (NSA) during former President Akufo-Addo’s tenure when the ghost names scandal began.

The revelations stem from an investigative report by The Fourth Estate in November 2024.

Speaking on The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV, Asante named Henry Nana Boakye, Osei Assibey Antwi, Mustapha Ussif, Gifty Oware, and Kwaku Ohene Djan as the officials in charge of the NSA at the time of the fraudulent payments.

However, he clarified that the report does not directly accuse these former NSA officials of embezzlement but highlights their responsibility in overseeing the scheme when the irregularities occurred.

“The period that we focused our investigations on, you have Henry Nana Boakye – Nana B, you have Hon. Mustapha Ussif, the former Sports Minister, the immediate past Director General, Osei Assibey Antwi, Gifty Oware Mensah, who was also a deputy director, then you have one gentleman called Kwaku Ohene Djan, who was also a deputy director for the NSA.

“Our point is not necessarily to say that these are people have stolen money, so to say, but our point is that these were people who were in charge of the scheme.”

Mr. Asante’s disclosure follows President John Dramani Mahama’s directive for an investigation into 81,885 suspected ghost names found on the NSA payroll.

Presidential Spokesperson and Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, stated that these 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.