![FourthEstate](https://thefourthestategh.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/4thestate-log-2a.png")
An Accra High Court on Monday declined the request of the legal team of the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, to extend the time given to them to examine documents tendered in court by the prosecution.
The presiding judge, Justice Audrey Kocuvi-Tay, was not happy with Nanabanyin Ackon, lawyer for Mrs Oware-Mensah, who is standing trial for her alleged involvement in the ghost names fraud that shook the nation last year.
Justice Kocuvi-Tay said Mr Ackon was in court on November 17, 2025, for case management to prevent delays. As such, she indicated that the accused person’s lawyer had no basis to claim he had not been given enough time to examine the documents that detailed the case against his client.
Mr Ackon was served with the disclosure documents that contained the prosecution’s case against Mrs Oware-Mensah on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. Upon receipt in court, he prayed for ample time to examine the documents.
The court heeded his plea and adjourned the case to Monday, December 22, 2025. When he appeared in court on Monday, he pleaded again for more time.
“Sincerely, because of the bulky nature of the documents and technical character of the evidence, we have not been able to do much at all with the shortest time given us,” Mr Ackon said.
But the request irked the judge.
“Counsel for the accused prayed the court for time. And the court obliged and adjourned the matter,” Justice Kocuvi-Tay said. “I find it disingenuous for him to submit that he was given a very short time.”
The judge further said she would not countenance any attempts by Mr Ackon to delay proceedings.
“I do not have any intentions to tolerate time wasting on the part of the counsel of the accused person. I would therefore decline any invitation for extension. The court will proceed,” she said.
Interestingly, the prosecution indicated that they had filed the documents in court on November 25, 2025 and December 10, 2025.
With the denial of extra time for the defence out of the way, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, proceeded to mention the content of the documents the state intends to use to prosecute the accused as well as their witnesses.
Among other things, the documents included email correspondence and WhatsApp messages between Mrs Oware-Mensah and one of the prosecution witnesses, Eric Nyarko. Mr Nyarko is a former head of accounts at the National Service Authority. He was among top officials of the NSA who was supposed to stand trial for the alleged corruption at the Authority. The prosecution has, however, decided to use him as a prosecution witness.
When Mrs Obuobisa completed tendering in her documents and the names of witnesses, Justice Kocuvi-Tay asked Mr Ackon to file the names and addresses of his client’s witnesses, who are to be called on January 14, 2026.
But Mr Ackon said he found it a bit challenging to do so since trial has not begun.
“There is a little challenge to file witnesses even before the trial starts. My lady, we are aware that the outcome of the accused’s case is very vital,” he said.
However, the judge insisted that Mr Ackon filed the names and addresses regardless, as that is the right procedure.
Justice Kocuvi-Tay, therefore, adjourned the case to January 14, 2026.
Mrs Oware-Mensah was charged with five counts, including stealing, willfully causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering on Monday, October 13, 2025.
During a media briefing, the Attorney-General stated that Mrs Oware-Mensah created 9,934 fictitious names in the NSA database and utilised her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, to secure a GH¢31.5 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
According to the fact sheets, she claimed her company had supplied goods on a hire-purchase basis to national service personnel. However, investigators found that the names were fictitious and no goods were supplied.
Funds from the loan were reportedly paid into her company’s account and later transferred to other firms linked to her, causing a total loss of GH¢38,458,248.87 to the state.
Background
Earlier this year, The Fourth Estate published an exposé that uncovered large-scale corruption within the NSA. The investigation revealed the padding of ghost names in the NSA’s database and manipulation of the posting schemes that caused the government to disburse millions of cedis in allowances to service personnel who existed only on paper.
Beyond exposing the existence of ghost names, the publication also raised serious concerns about value-for-money, data security, and the institutional integrity of the Centralised Service Management Platform (CSMP), also known as the Metric App, which was used to manage postings and payments.
Following The Fourth Estate’s revelations, the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice initiated its own probe. The Attorney-General’s investigation confirmed widespread financial irregularities, revealing that top executives of the NSA, in collusion with private-sector vendors, had mismanaged more than GH¢ 2.2 billion through fraudulent schemes.
YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ
NSS Scandal: How officials bypassed validation process to stuff payroll with ‘ghost’ names
NSS Scandal: Gov’t suspends national service digital system after The Fourth Estate exposé
NSS Scandal: Gifty Oware granted GHC10 million bail with 3 sureties
