There will be no ghost names at NSA by end of my tenure – Opare Addo
The Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare Addo, has assured that the government is taking steps to eliminate ghost names and other fraudulent practices from the National Service Authority (NSA).
He has pledged that by the end of his tenure as Minister, there will be no ghost names on the NSA’s payroll.
Speaking in an interview with Kwesi Parker Wilson on Oyerepa Breakfast Time, Mr Opare Addo said the government had already introduced measures to clean up the system and prevent the manipulation of national service records.
“I say this on authority and let anybody hold me to my words: when Opare Addo is done as Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, there will not be one single ghost name under the National Service Authority. I have cleaned it up,” he said.
The Minister’s comments come against the backdrop of the corruption scandal that has hit the NSA, including allegations involving the payment of allowances to non-existent national service personnel.
Former NSA Executive Director Osei Assibey Antwi and former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah have been charged in connection with alleged financial crimes linked to the Authority. Osei Assibey Antwi faces charges including allegedly authorising payments to more than 60,000 non-existent national service personnel, while Oware-Mensah faces separate charges linked to an alleged scheme involving the Authority’s marketplace platform.
Mr Opare Addo said the government had subsequently scrapped the system it inherited and introduced a new deployment process designed to prevent fraudulent entries.
He cited the most recent deployment exercises, explaining that one list submitted by institutions contained about 140,000 names, but after verification, fewer than 90,000 were cleared for deployment.
“We have done two deployments. The first one they brought a list of 140,000. We have scrapped the system we inherited. We deployed a new system entirely. After the checks we got, not up to 90,000 from the 140,000,” he said.
According to the Minister, some officials from educational institutions have also been arrested and are assisting with investigations into irregularities in the submission of names for national service.
He said the government’s efforts begin with scrutinising the lists submitted by schools because that is where attempts to introduce unqualified or non-existent names can originate.
Mr Opare Addo further explained that the redesigned system has been linked to Ghana Card and telephone details to make it more difficult for individuals to manipulate the process.
“The system that we have built, unless you are a robber, you cannot cheat the system. Now we pay through Ghana Card number and the card number is tied to the phone number. Now if you don’t have the Ghana Card, you can’t do national service,” he said.
He added that national service personnel now go through four verification stages before their allowances are transferred to their bank accounts.
“Now before you receive your pay, it goes through four verification stages before the money hits the bank account,” he said.
@oyerepatvghanaThere will be no “ghost names” at NSA by end of my tenure. -George Opare Addo, Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment #OyerepaNews
