The government has introduced stricter verification measures at the National Service Authority (NSA) to prevent fraudulent names from entering the national service system, Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare Addo, has disclosed.
Mr Opare Addo said the reforms had already resulted in a significant reduction in the number of graduates cleared for national service after authorities subjected lists submitted by tertiary institutions to enhanced verification.
Speaking in an interview with Kwesi Parker Wilson on Oyerepa TV, the Minister said a list containing about 140,000 names submitted during one of the recent deployment exercises was reduced to fewer than 90,000 after the new verification process.
“We have done two deployments. The first one they brought a list of 140,000. We have scrapped the system we inherited. We deployed a new system entirely. After the checks we got, not up to 90,000 from the 140,000,” he said.
According to Mr Opare Addo, the development demonstrates the extent of irregularities that could have entered the national service system under the previous arrangements.
He said some officials from educational institutions had also been arrested and were assisting with investigations into suspected manipulation of graduate lists submitted for deployment.
The Minister explained that the government was focusing particularly on the institutions that submit names because the verification process must begin at the point where candidates are nominated for national service.
Ghana Card becomes central to verification
Mr Opare Addo said the NSA had also redesigned its payment and identification systems to make it difficult for individuals to create or maintain fraudulent national service records.
Under the new arrangement, national service personnel are required to use their Ghana Card details, which are linked to their telephone numbers.
“The system that we have built, unless you are a robber, you cannot cheat the system. Now we pay through Ghana Card number and the card number is tied to the phone number. Now if you don’t have the Ghana Card, you can’t do national service,” he said.
He added that personnel must pass through four verification stages before their allowances are paid into their bank accounts.
“Now before you receive your pay, it goes through four verification stages before the money hits the bank account,” he stated.
Opare Addo vows to eliminate ghost names
The Minister said the reforms were part of a broader effort to completely eliminate ghost names from the NSA payroll.
He pledged that there would be no ghost names remaining in the Authority by the time he leaves office.
“I say this on authority and let anybody hold me to my words: when Opare Addo is done as Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, there will not be one single ghost name under the National Service Authority. I have cleaned it up,” he said.
The reforms come amid the corruption case involving former NSA Executive Director Osei Assibey Antwi and former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah.
Mr Assibey Antwi has been charged in connection with alleged financial irregularities involving payments to thousands of non-existent national service personnel, while Ms Oware-Mensah is facing separate charges linked to alleged financial misconduct involving the Authority’s marketplace platform.
Mr Opare Addo said the new systems were intended to protect public funds, ensure that only genuine graduates are deployed and restore confidence in the National Service Programme.
@oyerepatvghanaThere will be no “ghost names” at NSA by end of my tenure. -George Opare Addo, Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment #OyerepaNews♬ original sound – Oyerepa TV Ghana
