Ghc7.9m rot caused July/Aug allowance delay – PRO

The Public Relations Officer of the National Service Scheme, Ambrose Entsiwah, has revealed that investigations into the Ghc7.9 million fraud at the Secretariat delayed payment of the July/August allowances for service personnel.

The delay in the payment of the allowance led to a threat by some service personnel to demonstrate on Friday.

Twenty district directors of the Scheme have so far been arrested by the Bureau of National Investigations over allegations of financial malfeasance.

Investigations by the BNI uncovered a GHc7.9-million rot at the NSS paid as allowances to over 22,000 non-existent service persons in more than 100 districts across the country in July.

According to information, high ranking officials of the NSS tried bribing BNI officials with Ghc200,000, smocks, tubers of yam, laptops and goats, to conceal the rot.

Speaking on MORNING STARR, Thursday, Entsiwah confirmed the arrest of the twenty directors of the Scheme.

He added that the scheme is waiting for investigations to be concluded by the BNI for action to be taken against the directors.

“We are aware as management of the scheme that investigations have been going on for the past two months or so. My information was that some people had alleged that some of our districts directors were making payments to people who were not doing service or were doing service and had stopped.

“[The] delays in allowances for July and August… were [because] of some special audits or investigations going on, and that is what made the allowances delay,” Entsiwah said.