Reported by GhanaCrimes Newsroom·2 min read
A prosecution witness has told the High Court in Accra that 63,673 names with no verifiable identities received National Service allowances without doing any work, in the trial of the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
Detective Sergeant Collins Woode, testifying as the fourth prosecution witness and led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, said a forensic analysis of the authority's Central Management System covering the 2023 and 2024 service periods uncovered the payments. The system is used to validate and enrol national service personnel and generate payroll data for allowances.
"We had already done an analysis of the whole central management system and found out that 63,673 faceless names were found in the central management system to have received allowances for no work done," he told the court.
The investigator testified that the names formed part of a list the accused allegedly submitted to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to process monthly payments, and that investigators traced the list to her. He said the analysis linked the insertion of the names into the system with the processing of payment vouchers.
Spreadsheets and other documents attached to his witness statement were presented as exhibits.
Defence counsel Gary Nimako Marfo began cross-examining the witness before proceedings ended for the day, MyNewsGh reported. The court has scheduled an extended sitting for Thursday 12 November to continue the cross-examination.
Ms Oware-Mensah faces five counts, including wilfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit and money laundering, over an alleged scheme that the prosecution says enabled her to obtain about GH¢38.46 million. She has pleaded not guilty and is on bail. The witness's testimony has not yet been tested in full under cross-examination, and the court has made no findings.
