The former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, has been arraigned before the High Court in Accra on multiple charges, including stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, and abuse of public office.
According to the Attorney-General’s Department, Mrs. Oware-Mensah is alleged to have misappropriated GH¢38,458,248.87 between February 2022 and March 2024 while overseeing finance, audit, and procurement at the National Service Authority.
Loan Diversion Scheme
Prosecutors say the former deputy director dishonestly transferred GH¢31.5 million from a loan facility intended to support National Service Personnel into the account of her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, under the guise of supplying goods on a hire-purchase basis.
However, investigations later revealed that no such goods were supplied, and the names used to access the loan were fictitious, allegedly created from the NSA’s internal database.
Charges Filed
The charges against her include:
- Stealing GH¢31,502,091.40 belonging to the National Service Authority
- Willfully causing financial loss to the state through the fake hire-purchase arrangement
- Abuse of public office for personal gain
- Money laundering through the transfer of funds into personal and affiliated company accounts
The loan facility was secured through an agreement with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), with repayments supposed to be deducted from the allowances of 9,934 National Service Personnel — all later confirmed to be ghost names.
Part of the misappropriated funds was traced to Amaecom Global Company, where Oware-Mensah also served as a director, as well as other related entities.
Investigations
The alleged financial irregularities were uncovered following an investigation by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) after reports of corruption and financial misconduct at the NSA.
Mrs. Oware-Mensah is expected to appear again before the Accra High Court as the case proceeds.
