Attorney- General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has announced that former directors of the National Service Authority (NSA) implicated in the recent ghost names scandal will be formally charged in the first week of May 2025.

The impending prosecutions follow a directive from President John Dramani Mahama for a comprehensive investigation into the discovery of 81,885 suspected ghost names on the NSA payroll.

The anomaly was uncovered during a nationwide headcount of active national service personnel.

According to Presidential Spokesperson and Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the audit was initiated by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson as part of efforts to reconcile and settle outstanding service allowance arrears dating back to August 2024.

The matter first came to public attention through an investigative report by The Fourth Estate in November 2024, which exposed large-scale payroll irregularities at the NSA.

One of the key individuals under scrutiny, former NSA Executive Director Osei Assibey Antwi, was interrogated by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) on March 20.

He appeared with legal representation after being invited for questioning over his alleged involvement in the scandal.

Speaking to the media in Accra on Wednesday, April 30, Dr. Ayine confirmed that the investigations have reached an advanced stage.

“The investigations into the National Service ghost names scandal have progressed well.

And we will be filing charges against some of the persons involved from the first week in May — I mean, in a few days' time,” he stated.

Dr. Ayine further disclosed that the government is preparing to press charges in several other high-profile corruption-related cases.

These include the controversial Sky Train project, the National Cathedral, the procurement of mathematical sets, and the Senior High School WiFi initiative.

He noted that dockets for these cases are currently being finalised for prosecution.