The Auditor-General has uncovered financial irregularities totaling 2.5 billion cedis at the National Service Authority (NSA) between 2018 and 2024, with officials deliberately bypassing automated system controls despite having fit-for-purpose software.
The forensic audit, commissioned by the President, revealed that over 1 billion cedis was paid to personnel who served beyond the 13-month limit, while another 989 million cedis went to service persons without required biometric or monthly attendance verification. An additional 302 million cedis was paid to vendors without contracts, invoices, or evidence of work completed.
The audit found that NSA officials systematically bypassed the Central Service Management Portal (CSMP) controls built into the application. Seventy-eight percent of postings between 2018 and 2024 that should have been automated were done through manual overrides, while over 65 percent of enrolments were manually processed.
“The CSMP system is fit for purpose, but NSA officials deliberately bypassed controls,” the audit report stated, adding that officials often used manual overrides and indemnities to circumvent security features.
The report documented multiple control failures, including lack of segregation of duties where the same staff handled enrolment, posting, validation, and payroll. The NSA used manual payroll processing despite having a functional CSMP payroll module available.
In one notable case, the former Deputy Executive Director was enrolled as a service person while working at the NSA, receiving 559 cedis monthly for 12 months. She currently faces charges for allegedly stealing millions of cedis.
The audit revealed 8.2 million cedis in payments to former Director General Osei Assibey Antwi, and over 20 million cedis to internal staff members. Additionally, payments totaling nearly 2 million cedis were made to service persons with invalid ages, including those under 18, over 60, or with negative ages recorded in the system.
Other irregularities included 28.5 million cedis in unaccounted deductions, 152 million cedis in unapproved electronic cash to fiat transfers, and 55 million cedis misused from the Service Extension Project.
The findings are significant because the NSA recently replaced its technology despite auditors deeming it fit for purpose. This was a major point of contention between the recently dismissed NSA boss and the sector minister.
Current Director General Felix Gyamfi acknowledged the findings and attributed many issues to inherited processes and legacy operational gaps. He committed to reforms including centralizing posting processes within CSMP, restricting manual overrides, and enhancing documentation.
The Auditor-General recommended transferring payroll management to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, enforcing biometric validation before payments, banning manual uploads and overrides, and recovering all irregular payments with surcharges for responsible officers.
