Former Deputy Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware Mensah, has returned to Ghana as investigations into a ghost names scandal at the NSA intensify.
She arrived in the country on Tuesday afternoon and was met at the airport by some family members.
Her return comes shortly after Former Deputy Director of Operations at the NSA, Kwaku Ohene Gyan, popularly known as Osonoba, was detained by the NIB.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has confirmed that Oware-Mensah will make herself available for questioning by the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) regarding her tenure at the NSS, where she oversaw administration and finance.
“I am aware that Gifty arrived this afternoon. I have been in touch with her; she’s here in Ghana. Her lawyers are in contact with the National Investigation Bureau, and I am sure she is going to make herself available. Whatever the state investigation authorities have, they would proceed within due process,” he said.
The lawmaker emphasised he and the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) were not anti-accountability, only that they favoured due process.
“My view is that the NPP is not against accountability, me inclusive. We have been in public service, we are out of it, so obviously if the new government needs former officials to explain certain matters in one way or the other, it is in their right to do so,” he said.
This follows reports indicating that NIB officers had planned to arrest her upon arrival for interrogation as part of their probe into the alleged payroll fraud.
President Mahama days ago ordered the arrest and asset freeze of suspects involved in the National Service ghost names probe, describing the scandal as a significant act of corruption.
He also announced reforms to the National Service Scheme, including a military training program and a legislative instrument to support the National Service Authorities Act.