President John Dramani Mahama has directed an investigation into the discovery of 81,885 suspected ghost names on the National Service Scheme (NSS) payroll.
A statement issued by the Presidency on Wednesday, February 12, and signed by the President’s Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, revealed that the discovery was made following a headcount of active National Service personnel.
The headcount was conducted at the request of the Minister for Finance as part of efforts to clear allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.
According to the statement, the Ministry of Finance has released over 200 Million GSD to settle allowance arrears for 98,145 verified National Service personnel.
This number is significantly lower than the 180,030 names submitted for allowance payments by the previous management in 2024.
The President has further instructed the current management of the NSS to implement urgent reforms and establish proper controls to prevent the recurrence of such discrepancies in the future.