Two former senior officials of the National Service Authority (NSA), former Executive Director Osei Assibey Antwi and former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah, have been charged before the High Court in Accra on multiple counts of causing financial loss to the Republic, stealing, and money laundering, involving a total of more than GH¢550 million in public funds.
Alleged “Ghost Personnel” and Kumawu Farm Irregularities
According to a charge sheet signed by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, Mr Antwi, during his tenure between August 2021 and February 2025, allegedly authorised payments of allowances to more than 60,000 non-existent (ghost) national service personnel, resulting in a financial loss of GH¢500,861,744.02 to the state.
He is further accused of unlawfully taking various sums from NSA accounts, including GH¢3.6 million on August 22, 2023, GH¢516,000 on September 11, 2023, GH¢1.03 million on December 18, 2023, and GH¢2.06 million on May 14, 2024.
The prosecution document also states that between January 2022 and December 2024, the former Executive Director “wilfully caused financial loss of GH¢8,256,000 belonging to the National Service Authority by authorising transfers from the Authority’s control account to an e-zwich card number registered in his name.”
In another count, Mr Antwi is alleged to have withdrawn GH¢55 million from the NSA’s Kumawu Farm Project account on September 30, 2022, “without expending it on the project.” Further withdrawals of GH¢15 million, GH¢4 million, GH¢10 million, and GH¢22 million were allegedly made in 2023 and 2024 under the same project.
The Attorney-General’s charge sheet states that these acts collectively constitute offences under sections 124 and 179A of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and under section 1(2)(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).
Deputy Executive Director Also Charged
In a separate case, the prosecution has charged Mrs Gifty Oware-Mensah, former Deputy Executive Director of the NSA, with five counts, including stealing, causing financial loss, using public office for profit, and money laundering.
Court documents allege that between February 2022 and March 2024, Mrs Oware-Mensah “dishonestly appropriated GH¢31,502,091.40 belonging to the National Service Authority by causing the money to be transferred to Blocks of Life Consult for her benefit.”
She is further accused of causing an additional GH¢6,956,157.47 in losses to the Republic by inducing the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to charge interest on a GH¢31.5 million loan she allegedly arranged “purportedly for the supply of goods on hire-purchase to National Service Personnel, which were never supplied.”
The prosecution also contends that she “unlawfully received under the colour of her office for herself an amount of GH¢31,502,091.40 from ADB through Blocks of Life Consult, which she knew she was not authorised to receive personally.”
Investigators claim that the funds were transferred to Blocks of Life Consult, a company allegedly controlled by Mrs Oware-Mensah through associates, before GH¢22.9 million of the total was further moved to Amaecom Global Company, where she was said to be a director. The remainder was reportedly distributed among three other entities.
Background
The brief facts presented in court indicate that the National Service Authority had developed a “Marketplace Platform” to help national service personnel obtain loans and purchase items on hire-purchase through approved vendors.
According to the prosecution, Mrs Oware-Mensah, who supervised the NSA’s Finance, Audit, and Procurement departments, allegedly used her position to have Blocks of Life Consult registered as a vendor. It is alleged that she “generated 9,934 ghost names” from the NSA’s Central Management System (CMS) and submitted them to ADB as supposed service personnel.
The Attorney-General’s brief further notes that she “represented to the Bank that she had supplied goods on hire-purchase to the 9,934 ghost names and wanted to use their allowances as collateral for a loan.”
When the bank declined her initial loan request of GH¢78.1 million, she reportedly accepted a reduced facility of GH¢31.5 million, with interest to be recovered through source deductions.
Two separate agreements were later executed between ADB and NSA in February 2023 and March 2024, after which the funds were transferred from an escrow account to the company’s account. “Investigations revealed that the accused did not supply any products on hire-purchase to any National Service Personnel, and that the 9,934 names she gave to ADB and GHIPSS were ghost names,” the charge sheet stated.
Combined Financial Loss and Next Steps
According to the prosecution, the actions of both accused persons resulted in a total estimated financial loss exceeding GH¢550 million to the Republic of Ghana.
Both cases were initiated by the Office of the Attorney-General in October 2025 and are expected to be called soon before the High Court (Criminal Division) in Accra.
The Attorney-General, in the filings, certified the charges and outlined the state’s intention to prosecute the cases, which the documents describe as significant matters involving alleged embezzlement and abuse of public office within the National Service Authority.
