Investigator Tells Court 63,673 “Faceless Names” Received NSA Allowances for No Work

A prosecution witness in the high-profile trial of former National Service Authority (NSA) Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah told the Accra High Court on Wednesday that forensic analysis of the authority’s database uncovered 63,673 “faceless names” that received monthly allowances despite no record of any work being done.

Detective Sergeant Collins Woode, testifying as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4) before Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, said the names were identified within the NSA’s Central Management System (CMS), the platform used to enroll service personnel and generate the allowance payroll . The payments, he said, covered the 2023 and 2024 service periods .

“Before then, we had already done an analysis of the whole Central Management System and we found out that 63,673 faceless names were found in the Central Management System to have received allowances for no work done,” Woode told the court .

Oware-Mensah, who also served as a member of the Ghana Football Association’s Executive Committee, faces five counts including stealing, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, and money laundering . The prosecution alleges the state lost more than GH¢38 million through the scheme. She has pleaded not guilty and is on bail .

How the System Was Allegedly Exploited

Woode explained that prospective service personnel were required to register on the CMS by submitting their dates of birth, national identification cards, and photographs before undergoing biometric verification at the regional level . Where discrepancies were found between a person’s photograph and date of birth, the system flagged the individual and placed the name on a “banned list” that was retained rather than deleted. Any banned name still drawing a monthly allowance was, by the investigator’s account, a “faceless” one .

Personnel who successfully completed verification were required to download acceptance letters, obtain endorsements from user agencies, and undergo monthly evaluations to qualify for allowances .

ADB Hire-Purchase Arrangement Under Scrutiny

The court also heard that the CMS revealed payments flowing to companies rather than individual personnel. Woode named Marine Ventures, Brainwaves Enterprise, and ADB Hire Purchase as entities identified during investigations .

Interactions with Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) officials, including Head of Consumer Banking Serbeh Yeboah, established that ADB Hire Purchase was not the actual vendor. According to the witness, a company called Blocks of Life Consult—introduced to the bank by the accused—was the true vendor . Blocks of Life Consult was presented to ADB as a supplier in good standing with the NSA, seeking financing to purchase goods for approximately 10,000 service personnel, with repayments to be deducted at source from their allowances .

An e-zwich account was opened for ADB to facilitate repayments based on personnel lists submitted by the accused, which the witness said explained why ADB’s name appeared on the CMS instead of Blocks of Life Consult .

7,324 Names Overlap Between Bank List and Ghost List

Woode told the court that a list obtained from ADB contained 9,934 names submitted by Oware-Mensah for the loan facility during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 service periods . Investigators compared those names against the 63,673 alleged faceless entries and found that 7,324 matched, while 2,610 did not .

Using the name “James Waja” as an example—a name appearing on both lists across the two service periods—Woode said the 2023/2024 record contained no place of posting and no allowance amount for the individual .

The loan repayment schedule attached to the arrangement showed total deductions of GH¢7,150 over 11 months, equating to GH¢650 monthly. The witness said investigations revealed that the difference between the GH¢715 allowance figure and the GH¢650 deduction was allocated to Marine Ventures, which held a contract with the NSA to supply clothing to service personnel .

Background to the Case

The case stems from a probe initiated in February 2025 by the National Intelligence Bureau following reports of corruption and ghost names at the NSA . Prosecutors allege that Oware-Mensah used Blocks of Life Consult Limited to secure a loan from ADB by presenting allowances linked to fictitious names as collateral, obtaining GH¢38,458,248.87 through source deductions over 11 months .

The trial has faced procedural delays. On May 19, the Supreme Court dismissed an application by Oware-Mensah’s lawyers seeking to halt proceedings pending a constitutional challenge to a court practice direction requiring accused persons to disclose defence witnesses during case management. A five-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie held that the application did not meet the threshold for a stay .

In a related development earlier this year, an ADB witness testified that neither Oware-Mensah nor her husband appeared as directors, shareholders, or authorised signatories of Blocks of Life Consult Limited on the bank’s account-opening documents .

Cross-examination of Detective Sergeant Woode was adjourned to Thursday, November 12, 2026 . The prosecution’s account has not yet been tested under cross-examination, and the court has reached no findings on the charges.

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Reporter’s note: The figures cited in this report reflect testimony presented in court by a prosecution witness. The accused denies all charges, and the case remains ongoing.