Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has disclosed that the total amount of money lost in the National Service ghost names scandal now stands at GHC2.2 billion, and not GHC548 million as announced earlier.
In June 2025, Dr. Ayine revealed that Ghana had lost over GHC548 million through a criminal enterprise operating within the National Service Authority (NSA) after investigations were conducted by his team.
Twelve suspects have since been charged with stealing and causing financial loss to the state. The scandal prompted the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) to detain several high-ranking NSA officials, including Oware-Mensah, former NSA Director-General Osei Assibey Antwi, and other deputies, in an effort to recover diverted public funds.
However, at a press briefing on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Dr. Ayine revealed that, following a forensic audit by the Auditor-General, a new figure of GHC2.2 billion has been uncovered as the total amount of money stolen.
He noted that, based on this new information, the charge sheet against the suspects will be amended to include fresh charges.
“I wish to announce that the Auditor-General has conducted a forensic audit into the National Service scandal, and the total amount of money stolen or illegally spent now stands at GHC2.2 billion, and not the GHC548 million that was uncovered by my investigators as of June 2025. I have here a copy of the Auditor-General’s report.
We are going to base on this, in some cases, to amend our charge sheet in order to bring fresh charges,” he stated.
The Attorney-General added that investigations are still ongoing into several other matters, including the All African Games, mathematical sets contract, Bank of Ghana new building, stadia renovation, and the National Cathedral project.
“In the case of the National Cathedral, we have requested that the Auditor-General conduct another forensic audit, and he is being assisted by one of the Big Four accounting firms,” Dr. Ayine remarked.
Source:Lovinghananews.com
