Franklin Cudjoe, the Founder and President of IMANI Africa, has warned of more scandals in state institutions if permanent measures are not taken to stop such acts from recurring.
Aside from calling for those found culpable to be made to bear the brunt of the law, Franklin Cudjoe believes only the names and institutions involved would be changed, and such acts would fester if the state doesn’t employ concrete measures to stop these things from happening.
His comments are in relation to the charges levelled against the former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, and his deputy, Gifty Oware Mensah, for stealing and causing financial loss to the state, among other charges.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, the IMANI boss advised the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, to ensure those involved are brought to book while the government adopts measures to ensure such scandals do not recur in different forms.
He advised that stringent measures be applied in subsequent disbursements in state institutions to avoid such incidents from happening again, cautioning that failure to do so will keep the scandal ongoing.
“Biometric verification must be mandatory for all public disbursements. Audit reports must be made public. Bank verifications must include real-time data checks, not spreadsheets alone.
“If Ghana fails to act, the next heist is already in motion. The names will change. The numbers will grow. And the ghosts will march again, silent, digital, and deadly.
Because the ghosts have learnt accounting, and the living have learnt silence,” he advised.
He further cautioned the government to follow due process to ensure the suspects are punished accordingly, unlike in the past where government officials involved in corrupt activities were treated leniently and allowed to go scot-free.
“This must not become another headline that fades into dust. The Republic must recover what was lost and fix what failed.”
Background
Former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, and former Deputy Executive Director of the Authority, Gifty Oware Mensah, have been charged for allegedly authorising payment of allowances to 69,934 non-existent (ghost) national service personnel.
Per a charge sheet filed at the High Court in Accra, 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
The prosecution, led by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, stated that between August 2021 and February 2025, Antwi allegedly authorised payments of GH¢500.86 million allowances to over 60,000 non-existent (ghost) national service personnel.
Prosecution, therefore, charged him with 14 counts of causing financial loss, stealing and money laundering, 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).
Gifty Oware Mensah
For Mrs Oware Mensah, she is alleged to have generated 9,934 ghost names from the NSA Central Management System (CMS).
After that she allegedly took control of Blocks of Life Consult Limited by making her mother’s driver one of the company’s directors and presented same to ADB with the explanation that she had supplied goods on hire-purchase to the 9,934 ghost names and wanted to use their allowances as collateral for the facility.
This scheme, according to the prosecution, allegedly allowed her to fraudulently obtain Gh¢38,458,248.87 from the bank through source deductions of the 9,934 non-existence allowance over 11 months.
She has been charged with five counts of willfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, and money laundering.
They are expected to be arraigned at the High Court in Accra this week where their pleas in respect of the charges would be taken.
Charges
On Count One, prosecutors allege that Mr Antwi willfully caused financial loss of GH¢500,861,744.02 to the Republic by authorising the payment of allowances to over 60,000 “ghost” service personnel between August 2021 and February 2025.
He also faces six counts of stealing, with the prosecution claiming that between August 2023 and May 2024, he dishonestly appropriated various sums of money totalling several million cedis belonging to the National Service Authority.
The alleged thefts include GH¢3.6 million on August 22, 2023, GH¢516,000 each on September 11, October 26, and November 23, 2023, as well as GH¢1.03 million on December 18, 2023 and GH¢2.06 million on May 14, 2024
Prosecutors further allege that between January 2022 and December 2024, Mr Assibey Antwi caused an additional GH¢8.26 million loss to the state by authorising transfers from the NSA’s Control Account to his personal e-zwich card account (No. 1177042059).
This transaction also forms the basis of a money laundering charge, with the state alleging that he knowingly took possession of funds that were proceeds of unlawful activity.
Kumawu Farm Project allegations
The charge sheet also cites unauthorised withdrawals from the Kumawu Farm Project account (No. 1018631542212), amounting to GH¢74 million, which prosecutors say were not used for their intended purpose.
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