NSA scandal: Former NSA deputy used service allowances to secure GH30m Loan – AG
Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has revealed that Gifty Oware-Mensah, the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), orchestrated a complex scheme that resulted in the misappropriation of over GH¢30 million in public funds.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Friday, June 13, Dr. Ayine said the findings are part of an ongoing probe by the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) taskforce, which is investigating financial improprieties at the NSA.
According to the Attorney General, Mrs. Oware-Mensah exploited the National Service Personnel (NSP) allowance system to secure a GH¢30,698,218.69 loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), using the allowance scheme as collateral. The loan was acquired at an interest rate of 23%.
“Some directors, such as Gifty Oware-Mensah, created and executed a meticulously detailed plan, using NSP allowances as security to obtain a loan of thirty million six hundred and ninety-eight thousand, two hundred and eighteen cedis, sixty-nine pesewas (GH¢30,698,218.69) from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at an interest rate of twenty-three percent (23%).”
He added that Oware-Mensah’s husband, lawyer Peter Mensah, acted as a representative for the company, which was falsely presented to the bank as a vendor supplying home appliances to service personnel on a hire-purchase basis, deductible through the NSA system.
However, “Blocks of Life Consult” was never an officially recognised vendor of the NSA.
The Attorney General further revealed that during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 service years, Oware-Mensah used a total of 9,934 ghost names to facilitate the diversion of funds.
After the disbursement, the funds were allegedly transferred into four different company accounts as follows:
- GH¢22,925,518.69 to AMAECOM (a company she is a director of),
- GH¢1,000,000.00 to Scafold (linked to Abraham Gaisie),
- GH¢1,572,700.00 to OTCHEY, and
- GH¢5,200,000.00 to Aristo Logistics and Trading.
The AG indicated that additional legal proceedings would be pursued as investigations continue into what he described as “deliberate and sophisticated attempt to loot state resources.”
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