The National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) has called on government to prosecute all officials of the National Service Secretariat (NSS) involved in the GH¢7.9 million corruption scandal.
Investigations by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) have revealed that over 200,000 non-existent service persons in more than 100 districts across the country in July had each been paid an allowance of GH¢350 amounting to GH¢7.9 million.
Further checks revealed various sums of money and other items were used in a bid to induce investigators to stop their attempt to uncover the rot.
[contextly_sidebar id=”rVDofBVai7Cq43BmTyrrkUWp5CjMSnz2″]20 District Directors of the NSS were subsequently picked up for their alleged roles in the matter.
The NSS boss, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, his deputies and all others who have been indicted in the report have been asked to step aside by the Board to allow exhaustive investigations to take place.
Speaking to Citi News, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, the President of NASPA said he was saddened by the scandal at the Secretariat.
“This particular issue that is emanating over a past few days is very worrisome and troubling.It saddens my heart that these things are coming at this particular time of the year. At a time when the nation is already having difficulties in the economy…I’m petrified to hear some of these things,” he said.
According to him, the Association is “no more proud to associate itself with the NSS.”
Meanwhile, student groups across the country have also condemned the scandal at the National Service Secretariat.
The President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Samuel Darkwa-Binfoh has described the incident as unfortunate.
He said the incident is a reflection of how leadership does not take issues concerning the youth seriously since available records indicate that “all youth oriented programmes are engulfed in one scandal or the other.”
The Coordinating Secretary of the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS), Kwame Amponsah, on his part is calling on government to deal with officials found culpable to save the image of the secretariat.
In another development, NASPA has taken a unanimous decision to postpone its intended strike. The national service persons were scheduled to embark on an industrial action to protest the non-payment of their monthly allowance by government.
Assafuah explained to Citi News that the decision to call off the strike was a result of assurances from the Ministry of Education to have their grievances addressed.
“We had an extensive meeting with the Deputy Minister of Education and Tertiary Institutions, Okudzeto Ablakwa and we have actually signed an MOU. He assured that in 10 days, he will be able to resolve the matter for service personnel to be paid.”
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana