The former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, has been charged with 14 criminal counts related to a massive financial scandal involving alleged losses exceeding GH¢600 million. The charges include causing financial loss to the state, stealing, and money laundering, linked to fraudulent payments and misappropriation of funds during his tenure from August 2021 to February 2025.
Key Allegations and Charges
Osei Assibey Antwi is accused of authorizing payments to more than 60,000 non-existent national service personnel, a scheme commonly known as the “ghost names” fraud. This act reportedly caused a financial loss to the state of over GH¢500.8 million by approving allowances for personnel who were never actually employed.
He faces six counts of stealing, with allegations of misappropriating millions of cedis between August 2023 and May 2024. Specific sums include GH¢3.6 million on August 22, 2023, and multiple transfers of GH¢516,000 on other occasions. Additionally, prosecutors allege that between January 2022 and December 2024, Assibey Antwi transferred GH¢8.26 million from an NSA control account into his personal e-zwich account, which forms part of a money laundering charge.
There is also a substantial allegation surrounding the Kumawu Farm Project account. The state claims that unauthorized withdrawals totaling GH¢74 million were made from this account without any corresponding expenditures on the project, raising further suspicions of financial mismanagement.
Legal Framework and Sections Invoked
The charges against Osei Assibey Antwi are laid under several legal provisions. These include:
- Sections 179A(1) and 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), which relate to causing financial loss and theft.
- Section 1(2)(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), addressing money laundering offenses.
Background and Investigations
The scandal surfaced as part of a broader investigation into fraudulent activities at the NSA, spearheaded by the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) taskforce tasked with tracing and recovering lost state funds. Investigations revealed that an Ezwich account registered in the name of Osei Assibey Antwi received over GH¢8.2 million during the 2022/2023 service year, with the linked Ezwich card found during a search of his residence.
This financial malfeasance investigation has been ongoing for over a year, with media reports and exposés highlighting the scale of ghost names and fraudulent salary payments at the NSA. The issue prompted an injunction from the NSA leadership to limit some media coverage before the full details emerged.
Statements and Reactions
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, provided updates during press briefings, emphasizing the seriousness of the charges and the government’s commitment to pursuing legal accountability for the massive public funds lost. Dr. Ayine underscored that the ghost names fraud and money laundering activities are among the largest financial losses recorded against public institutions in recent times.
No statements from Osei Assibey Antwi or his legal representatives are publicly available at this time. The case is underway at the Accra High Court, where the accused has been formally arraigned on 14 counts, signaling the start of what is expected to be a complex and high-profile legal battle.
Broader Context
This scandal is part of a wider crackdown on financial corruption within Ghana’s public sector, with several other officials and former NSA executives being charged alongside Assibey Antwi. Notably, Gifty Oware-Mensah, a former Deputy Executive Director of the NSA, has also been charged with multiple offenses involving over GH¢38 million in alleged theft and financial loss linked to the same institutional irregularities.
The case highlights systemic vulnerabilities in the management of national service personnel and public funds, prompting calls for reforms in oversight, audit mechanisms, and technology adoption to prevent recurrence of such large-scale fraud.