By Akaneweo Kabiru Abdul
Most Ghanaian politicians simply don’t learn. If you ask me, many take comfort in the suffering of the very youth they are supposed to serve. They rise to power, make promises about reform and accountability, and then turn around to commit the very crimes they once condemned. It’s as if power in Ghana comes with amnesia, a selective forgetting of moral duty once the siren of public office begins to sound. No example demonstrates this better than the National Service Scheme (NSS), a noble institution that has, time after time, been turned into a playground for looters and political opportunists.
The NSS was established with a simple but powerful purpose: to instill patriotism, discipline, and a spirit of national service among young graduates. It was meant to serve as a bridge between education and the world of work, providing an opportunity for young people to contribute meaningfully to national development. Yet, ironically, the very institution meant to shape the moral consciousness of Ghana’s youth has become a reflection of everything wrong with our governance — greed, impunity, and moral decay.
In 2014, under the John Mahama administration, the nation was rocked by one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of the NSS. Allegations surfaced that the Scheme’s payroll was bloated with ghost names — thousands of non-existent personnel who were being paid monthly allowances. It was a shocking revelation. Thousands of unemployed graduates were still waiting for their stipends, many going to bed hungry, while the money meant for them was being shared among corrupt officials.
The then Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) later conducted an audit and uncovered the full scale of the rot. Over GH¢86.9 million had been fraudulently siphoned between 2013 and 2014. About 33 officials of the NSS were implicated, including the then Executive Director, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, who was described as the mastermind behind the scheme. Investigations revealed a coordinated operation involving the creation of ghost names, manipulation of payment records, falsification of allowance vouchers, and bribery of internal auditors and some Ministry of Finance officials to conceal the fraud.
It was one of the most shameful episodes in Ghana’s public sector history. The scandal became an albatross on the Mahama government, symbolizing the decay of accountability and feeding public resentment ahead of the 2016 elections. It cost the government credibility and reinforced the public perception that corruption had become institutionalized under the NDC’s watch.
When President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took office in 2017, he made it clear that he wanted to clean up the NSS and restore public trust. He appointed Hon. Mustapha Yussif as the new Executive Director, and according to Yussif himself, the President was very firm during their first meeting. He cautioned him not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to rebuild the image of the Scheme from the ground up.
And indeed, Mustapha Yussif took that charge seriously. He introduced sweeping reforms aimed at blocking financial leakages and restoring credibility. The NSS adopted a biometric validation system for every national service personnel, ensuring that only verified individuals could be enrolled and paid. Payment of allowances was transferred to the E-Zwich platform, making transactions traceable and eliminating the possibility of manual manipulation. Additionally, the NSS database was linked to the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), a move that ensured direct accountability to the Ministry of Finance and reduced the space for corruption.
For the first time in many years, there was order, discipline, and transparency at the NSS. Personnel were paid on time, ghost names were cleared, and public confidence was slowly rebuilt. The NSS under Mustapha Yussif became a case study in reform-driven leadership. It proved that when good people occupy public office, systems can indeed work.
But like most good stories in Ghana, it didn’t last long. In August 2021, Mustapha Yussif handed over to Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi, former Mayor of Kumasi, after he was appointed Minister for Youth and Sports. The transition was smooth, and many hoped that the new Director would continue the legacy of accountability. Alongside him was Mrs. Gifty Oware-Mensah, who had been serving as Deputy Executive Director since 2017. Unfortunately, what followed was the complete reversal of all the progress that had been achieved.
According to a charge sheet filed by the Attorney-General at the Accra High Court on October 13, 2025, the fraudulent activities began in 2022, barely a year after Mustapha Yussif’s departure. Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi, who served as NSS Director from 2021 to 2024, is accused of authorizing payments to over 60,000 non-existent national service personnel between August 2021 and February 2024, leading to a financial loss of GH¢500,861,744.02 to the state. Investigations further revealed that he allegedly transferred GH¢8.2 million into his personal E-Zwich account between August 2023 and May 2024 and diverted GH¢106 million meant for the NSS Kumawu Farm Project, with no record of how the funds were used. The total financial loss attributed to him stands at GH¢615 million, an amount that could have built multiple hospitals, roads, or schools across Ghana.
His deputy, Mrs. Gifty Oware-Mensah, who also served from 2017 to 2024, has been charged with five counts of corruption-related offenses. The prosecution alleges that she created 9,934 fictitious names in the NSS database and used her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, to secure a GH¢31.5 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), claiming her company had supplied goods to service personnel. Investigators later discovered that no goods were ever supplied, and the supposed beneficiaries were all fake. Funds were then diverted into her private and affiliated accounts, resulting in a total financial loss of GH¢38.4 million to the state.
How did we get here again? After all the lessons of 2014, after all the reforms, after all the warnings? How could anyone in their right mind imagine stealing from the same NSS that had already gone through such a national disgrace? The answer lies in one thing — the moral failure of our political class. Many of our politicians do not see public service as a responsibility; they see it as an opportunity to cash out. Their appetite for wealth has become insatiable, and their conscience dead.
This scandal is not about NDC or NPP. It is about a rotting political culture. The same government that produced a clean reformer like Mustapha Yussif has also produced men and women who allegedly turned a youth-centered institution into their personal bank accounts. What makes this even sadder is that the NSS deals directly with young people, most of whom are unemployed or struggling to survive after school. For many, their NSS allowance is the only income they depend on. To steal from such people is beyond corruption; it is wickedness. It is a moral crime against the youth of this nation. It is an insult to every struggling graduate who wakes up early, works hard, and still can’t afford three meals a day because of delayed payments.
This issue is not about partisanship. It’s about justice and accountability. If Mustapha Yussif served as NSS Director for years and left without a single case of financial misappropriation, why are only Osei Assibey Antwi and Gifty Oware-Mensah being pursued if they have done nothing wrong? Facts don’t lie — systems do. And when evidence points to misconduct, the law must take its full course, no matter who is involved.
We must reach a point in this country where leadership means moral example, not privilege. We must stop celebrating thieves because they belong to our party. We must stop normalizing corruption as if it is part of our national character. The day Ghana begins to punish corruption severely, regardless of who commits it, will be the day we begin to heal.
The NSS scandal is not just about missing money; it is about lost values. It is a warning that until we fix the soul of this nation, the cycle of theft, denial, and repetition will continue. Today it is the NSS; tomorrow it could be the Youth Employment Agency, the School Feeding Programme, or even the National Health Insurance Scheme. Every public institution is at risk because our moral compass is broken.
When leaders steal from the National Service Scheme, they are not just stealing from the State; they are stealing from the future. They are stealing from the teacher in Nandom, the nurse in Bongo, the agriculture student in Techiman, and the community worker in Salaga. They are stealing from every young Ghanaian who still believes that serving this nation can mean something noble.
It is time to break this curse of corruption. Ghana cannot continue this way. The youth deserve better. Our future deserves better. And those who steal from the poor, no matter how powerful, must one day face the full judgment of history.
