A former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA) in-charge of finance and administration, who allegedly absconded from the country, after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost the 7 December election, has been spotted in faraway, Morocco.
Gifty Oware-Mensah, who is an Executive Council member of the Kurt Okraku-led Ghana Football Association (GFA), is with the senior female national team, the Black Queens.
The 38-year old is there in her capacity as the chairperson of the Black Queens’ Management Committee. The team is in that country preparing for the rescheduled 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tournament.
This is coming at a time series of allegations, bordering on payroll and ghost names scandal, have been levelled against her, together with other colleagues’ involving their tenure as top managers of the Authority.
They are also being investigated by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and also the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).
While the OSP investigation is in connection with a petition from the Fourth Estate following their comprehensive investigative piece concerning insertion of names on the Authority’s payroll, the NIB’s was ordered by the present government.
Even though her colleagues including former Minister for Youth and Sports, Yussif Mustapha have stayed back, issuing statements to defend themselves, she was spotted few weeks ago at the airport in what looks like she was traveling to the United States of America (USA).
The Berry Ladies’ bankroller is therefore being searched for by the authorities to answer questions concerning her work in the last eight years.
Even though unconfirmed, there are reports that Gifty Oware-Mensah will move with the team from Casablanca to return to Ghana, to ostensibly answer questions for her deeds.
Meanwhile, a former Deputy Director of the NSA responsible for operations, Kwaku Ohene Gyan, has been arrested by the Bureau for the same payroll and ghost names offences.
He was arrested on the evening of Saturday February 22 just a day before a former Board Chairman of the Ghana Infrastructural Investment Fund (GIIF) and onetime board chairman of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Prof Christopher Ekumfi Ameyaw, was also arrested by the Intelligence Bureau.
Gyan was detained at the offices of the Bureau and he is expected to meet his lawyers on Monday February 24 for legal assistance.
About two weeks ago, President John Dramani Mahama ordered the NIB to conduct an immediate probe into the operations of the NSA under the previous administration.
The order followed the detection of some eighty-one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-five (81,885) suspected ghost names on the payroll of the Authority.
The ghost names were detected after a head count of active National Service personnel, under the instruction of the Minister of Finance Caasiel Ato Baah Forson in a move to clear allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.
The Ministry of Finance released GHS226, 019, 224 upon completing head count, covering the arrears for ninety-eight thousand and forty-five (98, 145) actual National Service Personnel.
This figure is 81, 885 less than the 180, 030 names presented by the previous management of the Authority for allowance payment in 2024.
Headed by Felix Gyamfi, the President also tasked the new management of the Authority to carry out urgent reforms with the view of establishing adequate controls to prevent the recurrence of the phenomenon of ghost names.