Reports have emerged that the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, and the former Executive Director, Osei Assibey Antwi, failed to appear before the Accra High Court.

The two, who are facing criminal charges, were expected to appear in court on Friday, October 17, 2025, to enter their pleas and respond to allegations of financial misconduct involving several millions of Ghana cedis, however failed to do so.

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According to a myjoyonline.com report, the legal team of Gifty Oware-Mensah, in explaining her absence, stated that she had submitted a two-day medical excuse duty.

For Assibey Antwi, his lawyers reportedly indicated that he had been instructed to report to police investigators in Kumasi and was currently there, hence his absence.

The court has, as a result, adjourned the case to a later date yet to be determined.

Assibey Antwi’s lawyer is said to have told the court that the defense team had not yet been served with a charge sheet, leading the court to direct that the charge sheet and hearing notices be served on the accused, after which the matter would be re-called for hearing.

On October 13, 2025, the Attorney General, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, formally charged Gifty Oware-Mensah with stealing and willfully causing financial loss to the state.

According to the Attorney General’s Department, Oware-Mensah allegedly misappropriated a total of GH¢38,458,248.87 between February 2022 and March 2024 while supervising the finance, audit, and procurement divisions of the NSA.

The charges against her include: stealing GH¢31,502,091.40 belonging to the National Service Authority, willfully causing financial loss to the state through a fraudulent hire-purchase scheme, abuse of public office for personal gain and money laundering through the transfer of illicit funds into personal and affiliated accounts.

On the other hand, Osei Assibey Antwi has been charged with 14 counts, including causing financial loss to the republic, stealing, and money laundering, in a case involving more than GH¢600 million.

According to a charge sheet filed at the Accra High Court on October 13, 2025, the former NSA boss is accused of authorising payments to over 60,000 non-existent national service personnel and misappropriating public funds during his tenure between August 2021 and February 2025.

Assibey Antwi faces multiple charges under sections 179A(1) and 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and section 1(2)(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).

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He also faces six counts of stealing, involving several million cedis between August 2023 and May 2024, including GH¢3.6 million on August 22, 2023, and multiple transfers of GH¢516,000 each in the following months.

MAG/AE

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