The Attorney-General’s Office has filed formal charges against two former executives of the National Service Authority (NSA) following a massive corruption scandal that allegedly cost the state more than GH¢653 million.
In separate filings at the High Court in Accra, prosecutors accuse former Executive Director Osei Assibey Antwi and former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah of masterminding separate schemes that diverted public funds through networks of non-existent service personnel and fraudulent loan arrangements.
Osei Assibey Antwi is facing 14 counts linked to what the state describes as one of the largest financial loss cases in recent Ghanaian history. The charges include causing financial loss to the Republic, stealing, and money laundering.
According to the charge sheet, Antwi allegedly authorized payments to more than 60,000 fictitious national service personnel, draining GH¢500.8 million from public funds. He is further accused of misappropriating GH¢8.26 million by transferring the money into his personal e-zwich account, as well as unlawfully withdrawing GH¢106 million from the NSA’s Kumawu Farm Project account without allocating any of it to the project.
The Attorney-General’s Office estimates the total losses tied to Antwi’s actions at GH¢615,117,744.02.
Meanwhile, Gifty Oware-Mensah faces five counts, including stealing, willfully causing financial loss, using public office for profit, and money laundering.
Prosecutors say Oware-Mensah, who supervised the NSA’s finance and procurement departments, allegedly used the agency’s “marketplace” platform to create a network of 9,934 ghost names. Through her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, she reportedly approached the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), claiming to have supplied goods to these fictitious personnel and requesting a loan using their supposed allowances as collateral.
The bank approved a GH¢31.5 million loan, which was paid into her company’s account. She allegedly moved GH¢22.9 million of that amount into another company where she also served as a director. Investigators say no goods were ever supplied and that accrued interest pushed the total financial loss to GH¢38,458,248.87.
Both former officials are expected to make their first court appearance as the Attorney-General pursues restitution and accountability in what has become a defining test for Ghana’s public sector anti-corruption drive.
