The former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, and his former deputy, Gifty Oware-Mensah, have been charged with multiple counts of stealing, willfully causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering.
According to charge sheets filed at the High Court in Accra on October 13, the two former officials are accused of authorizing payments to thousands of non-existent national service personnel and misappropriating public funds during their tenure.
Osei Assibey Antwi’s Charges
Mr. Assibey Antwi, who served as Executive Director between August 2021 and February 2025, has been slapped with 14 counts of stealing and causing financial loss to the state, contrary to sections 179A(1) and 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and section 1(2)(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).
I’m a charge sheet filed on Monday, October 13, 2025, prosecutors allege that he willfully caused financial loss of GH¢500,861,744.02 to the Republic by authorizing payments to more than 60,000 “ghost” national service personnel between August 2021 and February 2025.
He also faces six counts of stealing, with the prosecution saying that between August 2023 and May 2024, he dishonestly appropriated several million cedis belonging to the NSA.
It also alleges that between January 2022 and December 2024, he transferred GH¢8.26 million from the NSA’s account into his personal account, and also withdrew a total of GH¢74 million from the Kumawu Farm Project into private accounts.
Gifty Oware–Mensah’s Charges
In a charge sheet filed on October 13, former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah is accused of generating 9,934 ghost names from the NSA’s Central Management System (CMS) and using them in a fraudulent financial scheme.
She faces five counts of willfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, and money laundering.
It is alleged that she took control of Blocks of Life Consult Limited, named her mother’s driver as one of its directors, and presented the company to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) as a supplier that had provided goods on hire-purchase to 9,934 supposed service personnel.
According to the prosecution, she then used the ghost names’ allowances as collateral to fraudulently secure a facility from the bank to secure GH¢38,458,248.87 over an 11-month period.
Both accused persons are expected to appear before the High Court later this week to enter their pleas.
