Ghana’s President, John Dramani Mahama, has instructed an investigation into the National Service Authority after uncovering over 81,000 suspected ghost names on its payroll. The discovery was made during a recent headcount aimed at addressing outstanding allowance payments to graduates enrolled in the one-year mandatory employment program.
The ghost names were found in the authority’s records, which supervises the program. While the full extent of the issue remains unclear, the Finance Ministry revealed that it had disbursed 226 million Ghana cedis (about $14.6 million) to over 98,000 legitimate beneficiaries.
The investigation comes as President Mahama, who returned to office in January, seeks to combat corruption and stabilize Ghana’s economy, which is recovering from a significant financial crisis.
Separately, Ghana’s anti-corruption body, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), has declared former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta a “wanted fugitive” in connection with five corruption-related investigations. Ofori-Atta has not yet responded to the charges.
