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 listed as 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 (USN), through which he received GH¢516,000 every month over a 16-month period, amounting to GH¢8,256,000 in total.
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Auditors noted that the payments were made despite the absence of any documentation proving that he performed voluntary service or managed funds on behalf of others at Kumawu Farms. The report stated:
“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 amount received monthly was equivalent to the standard allowances for about 721 service personnel, each of whom typically earns GH¢715.57 per month.
The findings, auditors said, represent a serious breach of good governance and accountability standards as set out 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.
Auditors have since recommended that the GH¢8.26 million be recovered in full and that further investigations be conducted to determine whether the transactions were authorized or part of a broader payroll manipulation scheme.
The report on the National Service Authority (NSA) also revealed other irregularities involving ghost names, duplicate EZWICH registrations, and the unauthorized enrolment of over 4,500 individuals costing nearly GH¢900,000, pointing to systemic weaknesses in internal controls.
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