Stay off – Ex National Service boss warned

The Board of the Ghana National Service Scheme (GNSS) has distanced itself from having any dealings with its once powerful Executive Director, Vincent Senam Kuagbenu.

This follows claims by Mr Kuagbenu on the Friday, May 10, 2013 edition of Metro TV’s ‘Thank God Its Friday’ programme in which he claimed he was still in charge of the GNSS, which is mandated by government to mobilise and deploy Ghanaian citizens of 18 years and above to undertake national priority development programmes for a one year mandatory national service.

However, a statement issued in Accra yesterday and signed by Board Chairman of the Scheme, Mr Nkunu Akyea, virtually disowned the man, noting with emphasis “the Board wishes to state that Mr. Vincent Senam Kuagbenu was withdrawn from the National Service Scheme by the Office of the President and asked to proceed on leave.”

For this reason, the Chairman stated emphatically “he is not returning to the Scheme.”

Somewhere last month, the controversial Kuagbenu was relieved of his appointment when he was asked by a letter from the Office of the President to proceed on leave and directed to report to the President’s office for re-assignment.

Some staff of the Scheme expressed joy when news of his exit was announced.

One of such persons was the Director of the Scheme’s Voluntary Service; Ebenezer Anim Dankwah, who criticised Kuagbenu for what he described as his ‘autocratic management style’.

Kuagbeni was subsequently replaced with one of his Deputies in charge of Finance and Administration, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, who has since been made the Acting Executive Secretary.

Interestingly, the official website of the Ghana National Service Scheme http://www.nssghana.org/ still has the name and picture of Mr Vincent Senam Kuagbenu as the Executive Director with his profile still intact while that of the new and Acting Executive Director, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, is nowhere to be found.

It, would, therefore not be a surprise for any first-time visitor of the website to conclude that Mr Kuagbenu is still the Executive Director of the GNSS.