In an effort to eliminate ghost names from its payroll, the National Service Authority (NSA), has introduced a new requirement for prospective graduates seeking to register for national service.
According to Mr Felix Gyamfi, the Acting Director-General of the NSA, only individuals with a valid Ghana Card would be eligible for registration.
“… If you do not have a valid Ghana card ID, you will not be allowed into our system,” Mr Gyamfi stated at a press conference on Thursday in Accra.
“… If you are a prospective graduate and you do not have a valid Ghana Card to register, you will not be allowed to do national service. So, these are some of the pathways to take away the ghost names,” he noted.
Mr Gyamfi attributed the presence of ghost names on the NSA payroll to a leadership problem, citing the previous management’s alleged failure to implement necessary checks and policies.
“… This was a leadership problem. This was a situation where the checks that were put in place to save the taxpayers money was supposed to have kicked in and it didn’t kick in,” he said.
The new requirement comes after a recent headcount of active National Service personnel uncovered an alleged over 81,885 suspected ghost names on the NSA payroll.
The headcount was initiated by the Minister for Finance as a prerequisite for clearing outstanding allowance arrears from August 2024.
On Wednesday February 12, President John Dramani Mahama directed an investigation into the an alleged discovery of 81,885 suspected ghost names on the payroll of the National Service Scheme (NSS).
A statement issued by the Presidency, and signed by the President’s Spokesperson, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, said the suspected ghost names were identified after a headcount of active National Service personnel.
It said the headcount was carried out at the request of the Minister of Finance as a necessary step for clearing allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.
“… The Ministry of Finance has upon the completion of the headcount, released an amount of GH¢ 226,019,224 covering allowance payment arrears for 98,145 actual National Service Personnel.
“This figure is 81,885 less than the 180,030 names presented by the previous management of the Authority for allowance payment in 2024,” it added.
Meanwhile, President Mahama has also urged the current management of the NSS to implement urgent reforms, establishing proper controls to prevent the recurrence of the ghost names issue in the future.
“President Mahama has also tasked the new management of the Authority to carry out urgent reforms with the view to establishing adequate controls to prevent a recurrence of the phenomenon of ghost names,” it noted.
Prospective graduates can obtain a Ghana Card through the National Identification Authority.
GNA