News
President Mahama orders investigations into National Service Authority ghost names scandal
President John Dramani Mahama has ordered the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to conduct
immediate investigations into the operations of the National Service Authority under the previous
government following the discovery of up to 81,885 suspected ghost names on the payroll of the
Authority.
The ghost names were detected following a head count of active National Service personnel at
the behest of the Minister for Finance as a prerequisite for the dearance of allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.
The Ministry of Finance has upon the completion of the head count, released an amount of GHS
226,019,224 covering allowance payment arrears for 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.
President Mahama has also tasked the new management of the Authority to carry out urgent reforms with the view to establishing adequate controls to prevent a recurrence of the
phenomenon of ghost names.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Executive Committee member and Volta River Authority (VRA) Board Member, Wonder Victor Kutor, has described calls for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa as premature and unjustified.
He argued that there was no evidence to establish that the minister had committed any wrongdoing to warrant such demands.
Speaking on Joy News in Accra on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, Mr Kutor questioned what had changed to justify the growing calls for the minister to step down.
He recalled that the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, had earlier indicated that the opposition was not accusing Mr Ablakwa of any wrongdoing.
Mr Kutor, therefore, challenged those demanding the minister’s resignation to provide fresh evidence to support their position.
“The call for the Minister to resign is premature, it is untenable. There is no evidence. I mean, what has he done wrong?” he questioned.
He added that documents, including boarding passes, airline receipts and flight manifests relating to the minister’s return journey, had been provided.
Mr Kutor expressed concern that the calls for Mr Ablakwa’s resignation could discourage young politicians from speaking out against corruption and advocating transparency.
According to him, politicians should not be targeted or maligned for demanding accountability, warning that such treatment could create the impression that speaking against corruption could later become a liability when one is appointed to public office.
He maintained that calling for accountability and transparency should not be used as grounds to target public officials without evidence of wrongdoing.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Ghana will host the Africa Festival of Arts, Culture and Creatives (AFESTAC) 2026 alongside Industrial Skills Week Africa (ISWA) 2026 in Accra from December 9 to 12, 2026.
On the back of these programmes, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has called on corporate Ghana, the media and the general public to support the initiative through partnerships, sponsorships and active participation.
The events, supported by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), will bring together stakeholders to celebrate Africa’s rich cultural heritage, strengthen the creative economy, promote industrial skills development and create employment opportunities for young people.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
