Ex-NSS Director Osei Assibey Antwi Granted GH¢800 Million Bail After Pleading Not Guilty in GH¢600 Million ‘Ghost Names’ Scandal
Accra, Ghana — Former Director-General of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, has been granted GH¢800 million bail with two sureties after pleading not guilty to 14 criminal charges in the GH¢600 million “ghost names” scandal currently before the Accra High Court.
The charges which include causing financial loss to the state, stealing, and money laundering stem from an alleged multi-year scheme that diverted funds meant for thousands of fictitious national service personnel between August 2021 and February 2025. Prosecutors allege that the unauthorized payments led to losses exceeding GH¢500 million to the Republic.
According to the charge sheet, Mr. Antwi is accused of willfully approving disbursements to over 60,000 nonexistent names on the National Service Scheme’s payroll, a fraudulent operation that was uncovered after a forensic audit of the agency’s accounts.
The prosecution alleges that Mr. Antwi dishonestly appropriated millions of cedis belonging to the NSA, including direct transfers into his personal e-zwich account. Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), he is also accused of transferring GH¢8.2 million from the NSA’s Control Account into private accounts.
Additionally, investigators claim he diverted GH¢74 million allocated to the Kumawu Farm Project, with no documentation proving legitimate expenditure on the initiative.
At his first court appearance, Mr. Antwi pleaded not guilty to all 14 counts. The presiding judge granted him GH¢800 million bail and ordered that two sureties of substantial worth be presented. The court further directed him to deposit his passport and report regularly to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) pending trial.
The Attorney-General’s Office has indicated that the prosecution intends to call both audit and financial-intelligence experts to testify on the manipulation of the NSA’s payroll system, which allegedly allowed for payments to ineligible individuals — including minors and deceased persons.
Meanwhile, former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah is facing a separate docket of charges relating to the same investigation.
The scandal came to light after a forensic audit revealed massive irregularities in the National Service Scheme’s allowance system, exposing the existence of “ghost personnel” and irregular electronic transactions. The revelations prompted public outrage and renewed debate over accountability within public-sector institutions.
The case has since been described as one of Ghana’s largest corruption prosecutions in recent history, with both political observers and civil-society organisations calling for swift and transparent adjudication.
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