A forensic audit by the Auditor-General has uncovered questionable payments totaling GH¢8.26 million made to the former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, under the National Service Programme’s payroll system between 2023 and 2024.
The audit, part of the Technical and Forensic Review of the Centralised Payment Management System (CSMP) and Metric App, revealed that Mr Assibey was irregularly registered as a volunteer under the service number NVPKUMAWUFARMS and deployed to Kumawu Farms, even though he officially worked at the NSS headquarters in Accra.
According to the report, he was issued an EZWICH card with the unique service number, through which he received GH¢516,000 every month over a 16-month period — amounting to GH¢8,256,000 in total.
Auditors noted that the payments were made without any documentation showing that he performed voluntary service or managed funds on behalf of others at Kumawu Farms.
“There is no evidence or documentation at Kumawu Farms (e.g., sign-in sheets, receipts, disbursement logs) indicating that Mr Assibey Antwi Osei received the funds on behalf of the volunteers or disbursed the same to them,” the report said.
The audit further observed that the monthly payments were equivalent to the total allowances of about 721 service personnel, each typically earning GH¢715.57 per month.
Auditors described the findings as a serious breach of good governance and accountability standards as outlined in the Public Services Commission Guidelines and the Audit Service Regulations, 2011 (C.I. 70), which require that all public payments be verifiable, properly documented, and duly approved.
They have since recommended that the GH¢8.26 million be recovered in full and that further investigations be carried out to determine whether the transactions were authorised or part of a broader payroll manipulation scheme.
The report on the National Service Authority also uncovered other irregularities, including ghost names, duplicate EZWICH registrations, and the unauthorised enrolment of over 4,500 individuals, costing nearly GH¢900,000 — highlighting systemic weaknesses in internal controls.
Source: Kenneth Awotwe Darko
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