The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has revealed that Ghana has lost over GH₵548 million through a large-scale payroll fraud at the National Service Authority (NSA), allegedly orchestrated by top management and their collaborators.
This revelation comes in the wake of President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to investigate widespread irregularities at the NSA, following the discovery of more than 7,000 ghost names on the institution’s payroll.
Addressing the media on Friday, June 13, 2025, Dr. Ayine described the scheme as a well-coordinated “criminal enterprise” that operated under the previous Akufo-Addo administration.
He noted that senior NSA officials—including directors, staff, and some service providers—colluded to siphon state funds by fraudulently inserting fictitious names into the payroll system.
He stressed that the government remains resolute in holding accountable all those involved, irrespective of their political or institutional affiliations.
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The exposé forms part of the administration’s broader anti-corruption drive under the “Operation Recover All Loot” (ORAL) initiative.
Dr. Ayine assured that prosecutions are imminent as investigations continue to unearth further evidence and identify more individuals complicit in what he called “an organized looting of public funds.”
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Dr. Ayine said, “In the 2022/2023 service year, 350,926,977.12 was lost to the state. for the 2023/2024 service year, 32,881, 157.07 was lost to the republic. In total, as stated, we lost about 548,333,542.65 to the criminal enterprise perpetrated by these executives, directors, and staff, as well as the service providers in the market” he said.
He added that “The criminal enterprise that resulted in the loss of this colossal loss of sum of money involved the creation of ghost names in the NSA payroll system by some directors and staff, which was subsequently exploited to misappropriate state funds for their gain”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Hamdia Mohammed
