FORMER DEPUTY NSA BOSS GIFTY OWARE-MENSAH WAS SIMULTANEOUSLY ENROLLED AS NATIONAL SERVICE PERSONNEL

A technical and forensic audit by the Auditor-General has uncovered that former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, was irregularly enrolled as a national service person while simultaneously serving as a full-time, salaried public officer.

According to the audit report, Mrs. Oware-Mensah was manually uploaded into the National Service Scheme system on March 16, 2021, despite being statutorily ineligible. Her enrollment was approved by then-Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, who lacked the authority to authorize such placements.

The former deputy was posted to the Koblimahagu Sobriya Primary School in Tamale but never reported for duty or underwent mandatory biometric validation. Despite this, she appeared on the payroll, and her full service allowance of GH¢6,708.48 was deducted and paid to a vendor through the NSA’s “MarketPlace” platform for a purported credit facility.

The investigation revealed that Oware-Mensah was among 4,556 individuals improperly enrolled as service personnel, resulting in irregular expenditures totaling GH¢899,349.67. Only 19 of those enrolled met the basic validation criteria.

Auditors attributed the widespread irregularities to manual overrides, weak system controls, and the absence of automated checks to prevent dual enrollment of salaried public officers. The report also highlighted misuse of the “MarketPlace” platform, where allowances were deducted and diverted without proof of goods or services rendered.

The Auditor-General recommended recovering all misappropriated funds and surcharging Oware-Mensah and other responsible officials, including Osei Assibey Antwi and Eric Nyarko, with the full amount plus interest. The report also urged disciplinary action against officers who bypassed protocols and called for automated controls to prevent future abuses.

Source:NKONKONSA.com