By Issah Olegor
The scandal engulfing the National Service Authority (NSA) has taken a darker turn as Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, revealed that a staggering GH¢8.2 million was paid directly into an Ezwich account belonging to former NSA Director General Osei-Assibey Antwi.
At a press briefing in Accra on Friday, June 13, the Attorney General disclosed that the funds were deposited during the 2022/2023 service year into an account bearing Antwi’s name.
The shocking revelation forms part of a broader investigation by the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) taskforce, which is uncovering what it describes as a “criminal enterprise” that manipulated the NSA payroll for massive personal gain.
Uncovering the Trail of Ghosts and Greed
The investigation follows a directive from President John Dramani Mahama to the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) to conduct a full-scale forensic probe into the NSA after irregularities were detected in the Service’s personnel payment system.
It emerged that over 8,000 ghost names had been inserted into the payroll during the Akufo-Addo administration, resulting in what authorities now estimate as GH¢548 million in losses to the state.
According to Dr. Ayine, Osei-Assibey was not only aware of the irregularities but allegedly benefitted directly from the ghost payment scheme.
“A total of GH¢8,256,000.00 was deposited into Ezwich account number 1177042059, registered in the name of suspect Osei-Assibey Antwi.
Investigations confirmed that he personally received these funds,” Dr. Ayine stated.
During a subsequent search of Antwi’s residence, security operatives recovered the corresponding Ezwich card, providing crucial physical evidence linking the former NSA boss to the suspicious transactions.
Part of a Larger Criminal Enterprise
The Ezwich payment is only one piece of a broader and highly coordinated scam.
Earlier disclosures by the Attorney General revealed that senior officials at the NSA — including former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah — were implicated in a well-planned conspiracy involving the creation of ghost names and bogus service contracts.
Oware-Mensah, in a separate but related operation, used ghost name allowances as collateral to secure a GH¢30.7 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) under the guise of a hire-purchase scheme for National Service personnel.
That loan was routed through a shell company and distributed to accounts connected to individuals within the same NSA network.
Dr. Ayine has called the scheme a “sophisticated looting operation” that exploited weak oversight mechanisms and collusion between insiders and external entities.
Calls for Accountability and Prosecution
With evidence continuing to mount, the Attorney General has confirmed that several prosecutions are being prepared, involving at least 12 individuals, including Osei-Assibey Antwi, Gifty Oware-Mensah, former Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif, and a number of NSA staff and third-party vendors.
“This is not just about mismanagement — this is theft on a grand scale,” Dr. Ayine declared. “We are committed to recovering every pesewa and ensuring justice is served.”
The revelations have reignited public outrage over systemic corruption and the unchecked abuse of public office.
