President John Dramani Mahama has ordered the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to conduct immediate investigations into the operations of the National Service Authority under the previous government following the discovery of up to eighty-one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-five (81,885) suspected ghost names on the payroll of the Authority.
The ghost names were detected following a head count of active National Service personnel, conducted at the behest of the Minister for Finance as a prerequisite for clearing allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.
The Ministry of Finance released GHS 226,019,224 upon completing the head count, covering the arrears for ninety-eight thousand, one hundred and forty-five (98,145) actual National Service Personnel. This figure is 81,885 less than the 180,030 names presented by the previous management of the Authority for allowance payment in 2024.
President Mahama has also tasked the new management of the Authority to carry out urgent reforms with the view of establishing adequate controls to prevent the recurrence of the phenomenon of ghost names.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, MP.
Spokesperson to the President,
Minister, Government Communications
