In a significant procedural development that further intensifies scrutiny surrounding alleged financial misconduct within Ghana’s national service administration, prosecutors representing the Republic have submitted a substantially revised indictment in the criminal proceedings involving former Executive Director of the National Service Authority, Osei Assibey Antwi. The newly amended charge document, lodged before the court in 2026, broadens the scope of accusations while modifying several essential factual details underpinning the alleged offences.
The updated prosecutorial filing markedly increases the total number of accusations confronting the former public official. Whereas the earlier charge sheet introduced in 2025 enumerated fourteen counts, the revised document now contains twenty one separate allegations. Despite the expansion of the indictment, Mr Assibey Antwi has firmly rejected all accusations presented against him and has formally entered pleas of not guilty to each of the counts before the court.
At the centre of the case remains the allegation that the former head of the National Service Authority authorized disbursements of large public funds in circumstances that prosecutors contend caused considerable financial damage to the Ghanaian state. The prosecution’s earlier claim asserted that payments amounting to GH¢500,861,744.02 had been approved for distribution to more than sixty thousand individuals described as fictitious national service personnel.
However, the amended charge document introduces a significant recalibration of the alleged financial impact. According to the revised particulars now before the court, the estimated loss to the Republic stands at GH¢431,761,556.76. Rather than maintaining the earlier formulation referring to tens of thousands of “ghost names,” the prosecution now describes the recipients as “non service personnel and unverified individuals,” a linguistic shift that appears designed to align more closely with evidence obtained during the investigative phase.
The prosecution states that inquiries conducted by the National Intelligence Bureau uncovered substantial irregularities within the digital payment architecture used by the Authority. Investigators reportedly determined that between 2018 and 2024 a total of 63,672 registrants whose identities could not be conclusively verified were submitted into the national service payment platform. These entries were allegedly processed for the purposes of receiving monthly service stipends or payments connected to vendor arrangements embedded within the Authority’s operational marketplace system.
Court documents further contend that between August 2021 and February 2025 the National Service Authority disbursed GH¢431,761,556.76 to individuals who either had not undertaken the mandatory national service programme or whose identities were incapable of authentication through the Authority’s verification mechanisms. Prosecutors argue that these payments constituted an unlawful diversion of public resources earmarked for legitimate service participants.
The role attributed to Mr Assibey Antwi within the alleged scheme forms a critical pillar of the prosecution’s narrative. According to investigators, the former Executive Director served as the principal administrative authority responsible for approving personnel rosters transmitted to the national payment infrastructure operated by Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited. This institution functions as a central clearing mechanism through which allowances for national service personnel are electronically transferred.
During his tenure, which spanned from September 2021 until January 2025, Mr Assibey Antwi allegedly exercised supervisory authority over the Authority’s daily administrative operations while simultaneously acting as a signatory to several institutional financial accounts. Prosecutors maintain that this position placed him at the heart of the approval process through which personnel lists were validated and subsequently submitted for payment processing.
Within the operational framework of the National Service Authority, the payment platform also accommodates a marketplace arrangement through which registered vendors provide goods, services, or credit facilities to service personnel. Under that arrangement, deductions are made from the monthly allowances of participating personnel in order to settle obligations owed to vendors. Investigators now claim that irregularities within this system allowed unauthorized beneficiaries to access state funds.
One of the more dramatic allegations contained in the amended charge sheet concerns purported transfers of allowance funds to an electronic payment card registered in the name of the accused himself. Prosecutors allege that between 2022 and 2024 an e zwich card associated with Mr Assibey Antwi received deposits totaling GH¢8,256,000 which investigators believe originated from funds earmarked for national service personnel allowances.
According to investigators, the existence of this payment instrument was not disclosed during the formal handover process that followed the conclusion of Mr Assibey Antwi’s tenure as Executive Director. Prosecutors further allege that during questioning he initially denied possessing such a card. However, the card was reportedly recovered during a search operation conducted at his private residence in the Accra suburb of Dome, Accra, Ghana on March 25, 2025. Subsequent transactional analysis allegedly indicated that the accused personally withdrew funds from the card on several occasions.
The prosecution’s case also extends to transactions executed through the Authority’s vendor marketplace system. Investigators claim that certain payments were authorized in favour of vendors even though the purported services were never rendered to national service personnel. In several instances, prosecutors allege that the vendors returned portions of the funds directly to Mr Assibey Antwi in physical cash rather than reimbursing the Authority through official channels.
Among the examples cited within the charge document is a payment of GH¢7,704,880.92 made to Direct Savings and Loans. Prosecutors contend that despite the transfer of this substantial sum, no corresponding services were delivered under the marketplace arrangement, raising questions about the legitimacy of the transaction.
The amended indictment also introduces fresh allegations connected to a large agricultural development initiative known as the Sekyere Kumawu Economic Enclave Farm Project. This programme was conceived as a major agricultural venture intended to promote rural economic transformation and enhance domestic food production through the cultivation of farmland within the Ashanti Region.
Prosecutors state that between August 2022 and June 2024 a cumulative amount of GH¢106 million was transferred from the Authority’s central control account into a project specific account established to finance the enclave initiative. Contracts were subsequently awarded for land clearing operations and irrigation infrastructure development.
However, according to the prosecution, the Authority failed to obtain commensurate value for the funds expended on the project. Investigators estimate that the discrepancy between the resources allocated and the tangible outputs generated produced a financial loss to the Republic calculated at approximately GH¢61,289,843.30.
These new allegations have resulted in the addition of several charges relating to the improper authorization of public expenditure under the Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act 921). Other counts contained within the revised charge sheet maintain earlier accusations including stealing, causing financial loss to the Republic, and engaging in money laundering activities connected to the movement of state funds.
Despite the widening scope of the prosecution’s case, the court has allowed Mr Assibey Antwi to remain on bail under the same conditions previously imposed. Judicial proceedings in the matter have been adjourned until April 13, 2026, when the court is expected to convene a case management conference designed to organize evidentiary disclosure, refine legal arguments, and establish a timetable for the substantive trial.
The case continues to attract intense national attention, not only because of the enormous sums involved but also because it touches upon the integrity of Ghana’s national service programme, an institution regarded as a central component of youth development and civic participation in the country. As proceedings unfold, the courts will ultimately determine whether the allegations represent administrative mismanagement, criminal misconduct, or an elaborate financial manipulation embedded within one of the state’s most prominent public institutions.
