A report by the Office of the Auditor-General on the National Service scandal has disclosed how Assibey Antwi Osei, a former Director-General of the National Service Authority (NSA), was allegedly paid millions of Ghana cedis as a service person.
According to the report, Assibey Antwi Osei registered as a national service personnel and was posted to Kumawu Farms.
The report showed that between 2023 and 2024, he was paid GH¢516,000 every month as his service allowance, which amounted to a total of over GH¢8 million (GH¢8,256,000).
“During the review of payroll and financial transactions related to the National Service Programme (NSP), we identified an anomalous case of recurring high-value payments to a single individual, Mr Assibey Antwi Osei, a former Director-General of the NSS.
“The anomalies relating to these payments include:
a) Mr Assibey Antwi Osei was registered in the system under the volunteer number NVPKUMAWUFARMS.
b) He was officially posted to the Greater Accra Region, yet payroll records indicate that he was assigned to Kumawu Farms, a deviation from his official deployment.
c) He was issued an EZWICH card with USN# 1177042059, under which he received GH¢516,000 every month between 2023 and 2024.
d) The total amount received over the period amounted to GH¢8,256,000,” part of the report reads.
The Auditor-General’s office indicated that its investigation showed that Kumawu Farms had about 50 workers, but there was no evidence that the former NSS boss was using the funds he received to pay them.
It added that the over GH¢8 million could have been used to pay over 700 national service personnel within the period under consideration.
“Kumawu Farms has 50 registered volunteers, each of whom is individually paid via their respective EZWICH cards as per the nominal roll. There is no evidence or documentation at Kumawu Farms (e.g., sign-in sheets, receipts, disbursement logs) indicating that Mr Assibey Antwi Osei received the funds on behalf of the volunteers or disbursed the same to them.
“The monthly disbursement of GH¢516,000 is equivalent to allowances for approximately 721 personnel, using the standard monthly NSP allowance of GH¢715.57 per person,” the Auditor-General wrote.
The Auditor-General’s office went on to recommend that Assibey Antwi be made to pay all the monies he received as an NSS personnel with interest.
“Recover the GH¢8,256,000 from Mr Osei Assibey Antwi into the Auditor-General’s Recovery Account (BoG Account Number 1018331470015 held at High Street or GCB Account Number 1011200005912 held at High Street). NSS should block further payments under the said USN and flag similar high-volume transactions in the payroll for special audit review.
“The payroll oversight process should be reviewed, and control restrictions (including posting and disbursement authority) should be tightened. Mr Osei Assibey Antwi would be surcharged with the amount of GH¢8,256,000 at the current Bank of Ghana (BoG) interest rate,” it added.
Meanwhile, Assibey Antwi has been charged with 14 counts, including causing financial loss to the Republic, stealing, and money laundering, in a case involving more than GH 600 million.
According to a charge sheet filed at the Accra High Court on October 13, 2025, the former NSA boss is accused of authorising payments to over 60,000 non-existent national service personnel and misappropriating public funds during his tenure between August 2021 and February 2025.
Assibey Antwi faces multiple charges under 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).
Prosecutors allege that he willfully caused financial loss of GH€500.8 million by approving allowances for “ghost” personnel.
He also faces six counts of stealing, involving several million cedis between August 2023 and May 2024, including GH€3.6 million on August 22, 2023, and multiple transfers of GH¢516,000 each in the following months..
Source: Ghanaweb
