NSS Scandal: Gifty Oware granted GHC10 million bail with 3 sureties

The former Deputy Director of the National Service Authority, Gifty Oware-Mensah, who is standing trial for her alleged involvement in the ghost names fraud that rocked the authority, has been granted bail to the sum of GHC10 million with three sureties.

The judge presiding over the case, Justice Audrey Kocuvi-Tay, said two out of the three sureties must justify the bail sum of GHC10 million with landed properties.

Before Justice Kocuvi-Tay granted Mrs Oware-Mensah bail, her lawyer made a lengthy appeal to the court.

Nanabanyin Ackon told the court that Mrs Oware-Mensah is not a flight risk. He added that she is a very well-known individual, a married woman, who has a fixed place of abode in Accra and has a three-year-old child.

He pointed out that Mrs Oware-Mensah had been assisting the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) in their probe of the scandal since March 2025, asserting that the NIB has seized her client’s passport. 

“It is obvious that under this condition, she does not pose any flight risk,” he said.

He also reiterated that Mrs Oware-Mensah is unwell and undergoing medical treatment.

“The fact of which has been brought to the attention of this court with medical certification endorsed by the police,” he said.

But Justice Kocuvi-Tay said Mrs Oware-Mensah’s lawyers have not provided any proof that she is unwell. She said what had been presented in court was a two-day excuse duty.

“You have not brought any evidence before this court that the accused has a medical condition,” she said.

The Director for Public Prosecution, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, did not oppose the granting of Mrs Oware-Mensah bail. But she stressed that the court should grant bail in a manner that does not impede court proceedings.

“The republic is not opposed to the grant of bail by the court. However, it is the responsibility of this court to ensure that the provisions enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution are carried out. To ensure an expeditious and fair trial.”

Mrs Obuobisa prayed the court to take the accused person’s passport from the NIB and deposit it with the court’s registrar. She said after this was done the passport could “only be released with the express approval of this court.”

The court did not make a decision on Mrs Obuobisa’s plea. It, however, adjourned the case to November 25, 2025.

On Monday, October 13, 2025, the Attorney-General charged Mrs Oware-Mensah with five counts, including stealing, willfully causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering.

Mrs Oware-Mensah was supposed to appear in court on Friday, October 17, 2025, for the first time. But her lawyer on that day, Gary Nimako, produced an excuse duty to support the claim that she is indisposed.

Justice Kocuvi-Tay said she was not “happy” with the absence of Mrs Oware-Mensah.

According to court documents, Mrs Oware-Mensah created 9,934 fictitious names in the NSA database and utilised her private company, Blocks of Life Consult, to secure a GHC31.5 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

The fact sheets also said 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 had been 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 GHC38,458,248.87 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 GHS548 million through fraudulent entries and ghost names.