In a dramatic turn of events, former top officials of the National Service Authority (NSA) have hit back at what they describe as a “calculated smear campaign” by investigative journalism platform, The Fourth Estate. The former Director-General of the NSA, Osei Assibey Antwi, and former Executive Director, Hon. Mustapha Ussif, have categorically rejected allegations of financial mismanagement and payroll padding, branding the report as misleading and riddled with inaccuracies.
The exposé by The Fourth Estate suggested that the NSA’s payroll contained thousands of “ghost names,” leading to massive financial losses. The investigative piece further alleged that discrepancies between figures submitted to Parliament and those publicly available pointed to a deliberate attempt to siphon state funds. However, in a strongly worded rebuttal, the former NSA officials dismissed these claims, asserting that the figures cited were misrepresented due to a lack of understanding of the Authority’s operational framework.
A Flawed Investigation?
The NSA’s former leadership insists that the figures referenced by The Fourth Estate fail to account for additional enrolment cycles for nursing and teacher trainees, which significantly impact the total number of personnel. They argue that the omission of these cohorts skewed the data and created a false impression of ghost names inflating the payroll.
“The payroll is only activated after a stringent verification process,” the statement reads. “All personnel must undergo biometric verification before being paid through the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhiPPS), a subsidiary of the Bank of Ghana. Any surplus funds remain in the Authority’s account for subsequent use. The claim that ghost names are drawing pay is therefore false.”
Ghosts, Foreign IDs, and Fabricated Faces?
The Fourth Estate report also highlighted the presence of overaged personnel, foreign images, and incorrect ID numbers in the NSA system. This, they claimed, pointed to a systemic failure in the verification process, allowing fraudulent individuals to receive allowances. But the former NSA officials have vehemently denied these accusations, describing them as a “misapprehension of the enrolment and verification system.”
They explained that the NSA receives initial personnel data from educational institutions, which sometimes contain errors. However, they insist that through regional verification processes, such inconsistencies are detected and flagged. “Any personnel failing verification is categorized as banned, on hold, or pending,” they stressed. “These individuals never make it onto the payroll, so how can they be accused of drawing allowances?”
A Targeted Smear Campaign?
Perhaps the most explosive claim in the former NSA officials’ response is the suggestion that The Fourth Estate intentionally rushed to publish a damning report without conducting thorough checks. “Had they consulted GhiPPS, they would have realized that none of the individuals with inconsistencies received any allowances,” the statement noted.
The former officials are now calling for a full-scale investigation into the matter, welcoming President Mahama’s directive for a probe. They believe that the findings will expose the inaccuracies in the report and exonerate them from any wrongdoing.
What Next?
As the controversy rages on, Ghanaians are left questioning: Is this a genuine corruption exposé or a media-driven witch hunt? The Fourth Estate maintains that their findings are backed by evidence, but with the NSA’s former leadership standing their ground, the truth remains shrouded in uncertainty.
One thing is clear—this battle is far from over, and all eyes will now be on the impending investigation to separate fact from fiction in what is quickly becoming one of the biggest public sector scandals of the year.
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Source: GhanaNewsOnline