President John Mahama has directed the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to declare former directors of the National Service Authority (NSA) who have absconded wanted, following their alleged involvement in the ghost names scandal.
Speaking during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament on Thursday, February 27, Mahama revealed that he's tasked the investigative bodies to bring the culprits of the ghost names scandal to book.
This, he said, forms part of holding the officials accountable for their stewardship.
"I have directed that culprits be declared wanted and their assets frozen.”
The President on February 12 ordered an investigation into the operations of the National Service Authority under the former government following the discovery of 81,885 suspected ghost names on its payroll.
This follows a headcount conducted by the Ministry of Finance as part of efforts to clear outstanding allowance arrears.
According to the ministry, the verified number of actual National Service personnel was 98,145, significantly lower than the 180,030 names submitted by the previous management for allowance payments in 2024.
As a result, the government released GHC 226,019,224 million to settle arrears for the verified personnel.
Over the weekend, the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) detained Yaw Danso, an Accountant at the National Service Authority (NSA), in connection with the ghost names payroll scandal that has rocked the institution.
His arrest follows that of Kwaku Ohene Gyan, the former Deputy Director of Operations at NSA, who was taken into custody on February 22, 2025. Gifty Oware-Mensah, the former Deputy Executive Director of NSA, also remains on the run as authorities intensify their search for suspects linked to the fraudulent payroll scheme.