Big shake-up at National Service Secretariat; 33 workers interdicted
The Management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) has, on the advice of the board, interdicted 33 workers for their alleged involvement in financial deals in the scheme.
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A statement from the Acting Executive Director of the Scheme, Dr Michael Kpessa-Whyte, said the affected persons included officers from the head office, regional directors, accountants and administrators. It, however, did not disclose their names.
Investigations
However, a source at the NSS named the affected officers as Nelson Ayutigah, Chief Accountant at NSS headquarters; Ms Gloria Aku Mensah, Head of Internal Audit; Mr Ebenezer Anim Dapaah, Head of National Volunteer Programme; Mr Alhassan Idrissu, Head of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; Mr Samuel Ofori, Internal Audit, headquarters, and Michael Asubonteng, Head of Information Technology.
The others who are regional directors are Mr Seth Nana Asiedu Abugyei, Greater Accra; Alhaji Ali Ahmed, Central; Mr Gabriel Nyokeh, Volta; Nana Fosu Amankwah, Eastern, and Mr Silas Nangomah, Western.
The rest are Seth Quartey, Regional Accountant, Greater Accra; Mr Emmanuel Asare Asante, Regional Administrator, Greater Accra; Mr Theophilus Ato Kwofie, Regional Accountant, Western Region; Mr Festus Obeng Sefah, Regional Administrator, Central Region; Mr Alexander Agumen, Regional Accountant, Central Region; Mr Francis Himbuah, Regional Accountant, Eastern; Mr John Kwame Ayew, Regional Accountant, Volta, and Mr Joseph Bati , Regional Administrator, Upper West Region.
Legal action
Their interdiction, according to the statement, was without prejudice to any legal action to be taken against them by the state "on account of President John Dramani Mahama's relentless war against corruption and malfeasance."
Dr Kpessa- Whyte explained in the statement that the interdiction followed the receipt of official report from the Bureau of National Investigations BNI) about the financial malfeasance identified in the operations of personnel allowances accounts in the 2013/2014 service year.
The statement said the interdiction was the first step in disciplinary actions lined up by management against the suspected officers.
Dr Kpessa-Whyte further stated that sections of the BNI report that focused on the involvement of district officers of the scheme, were being reviewed by management, to determine appropriate disciplinary action.
He said the affected 33 officers had already been replaced to prevent administrative paralysis.
Background
In October 2014, the Board of NSS asked some senior staff members to step aside to allow the BNI to carry out investigations into allegations of financial deals in the scheme.
The deals centred mainly on ghost names in the payment of personnel allowances.