The names of 5 people have come up strongly as possible persons of interest after the John Mahama government announced it has uncovered a significant discrepancy in the National Service payroll, revealing 81,885 suspected ghost names.
The list of 17 persons who could likely be invited to assist in investigations occupied various roles at the National Service Authority between 2017 and January 2025, as civil servants and political appointees. While the attention of the public has been focused on top 5 leaders of the Authority over the past 8years, a list cited by MyNewsGh.com include directors of the authority some of whom where in the service before the appointment of new heads. The top 5 persons of interest in the investigations are Honourable Mustapha Ussif, Akufo-Addo's first NSS appointee, Henry Nana Boakye, Gifty Aboagye Mensah and Kwaku Ohene Djan.
The fifth person of interest is Osei Assibey Antwi who was named in 2021 to replace Mustapha Ussif who was elected Member of Parliament. The list of other members identified as persons of interest will be published subsequently. A person of interest is someone who is being investigated by law enforcement because they may have information about a crime and does not suggest they have committed an offense.
Being a person of interest doesn't mean that someone is a suspect but it does mean that investigators are paying close attention to that person and in many cases, a person of interest may later become a suspect. The investigation of the alleged ghost names at the National Service by The Fourth estate revealed that from at least 2018, every year, thousands of fake NSS personnel were added to the roll to be deployed. Last month, President Mahama ordered an investigation into the scheme due to the difference between the actual number of active personnel and the payroll data submitted by the previous management of the National Service Authority (NSA).
