Weak Leadership Led to Buffer Stock, NSA Scandals – Nii Lantey Vanderpuye

The National Coordinator of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, has attributed the recent scandals at the National Food and Buffer Stock Company and the National Service Authority (NSA) to what he described as “weak leadership” under the Akufo-Addo administration.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Thursday, October 23, Mr. Vanderpuye said the lapses that enabled such financial mismanagement reflect a lack of accountability and proper oversight during the previous government.

He described the revelations as both “surprising and disturbing,” suggesting they could not have happened without systemic negligence.

“It’s not easy to have access to government funds the way they did. Unless there was laxity on the part of leadership—an official failure,” Vanderpuye remarked.
“When people can create ghost names or misuse funds at that level, it means there was no fear or deterrence.”

Commenting on the NSA scandal, he questioned how the creation of thousands of ghost names could go unnoticed.

“In the NSA case, how were people able to contrive and create several ghost names? When it comes to the Buffer Stock case, I’m totally overwhelmed. When we didn’t have money to buy food to feed school children,” he said.

Mr. Vanderpuye maintained that such scandals were preventable with strong, responsible leadership at the top.

“When there’s a laissez-faire attitude and the head does not care, such embarrassments will befall all of us,” he added.

His remarks come after Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, announced that the former CEO of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, Abdul-Wahab Hanan, and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, will face multiple charges including stealing and money laundering.

Dr. Ayine also disclosed that a forensic audit uncovered GHS 2.2 billion in stolen or misused funds within the NSA — a dramatic rise from the GHS 548 million initially reported.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Executive Director of the NSA, Gifty Oware Mensah, has pleaded not guilty to charges of causing financial loss of over GHS 38 million to the state through the alleged creation of 9,934 ghost service personnel.