The National Service Authority (NSA) says it has saved the country about GH¢900 million between 2024 and 2025 through measures aimed at eliminating ghost names and unqualified persons from its payroll.
According to the Deputy Director-General of the NSA, Fuseini Donkor, the authority’s new verification system helped identify and remove thousands of names that did not meet the requirements for national service.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, July 22, Donkor said the introduction of additional security features in the registration process significantly reduced the number of personnel approved for service.
“As we speak to you, between 2024 and 2025 alone, the National Service Authority has made savings of GH¢900 million for this country by blocking ghost names.” he said.
He explained that before the commencement of postings, the NSA received 156,000 names from various institutions as the class list of graduates expected to undertake national service.
However, after applying the enhanced verification system, which included four additional security features compared to the previous process, more than 60,000 names were removed.
“Before the start of the postings, we received 156,000 names as the class list for service personnel that were supposed to register from all the schools. But because of the new system we were using, over 60,000 were weeded out,” he stated.
Donkor said the authority currently has about 70,000 national service personnel on its payroll.
He noted that expenditure on allowances has also reduced significantly, from about GH¢1.5 billion in 2024 to approximately GH¢700 million in 2025.
“For last year, 2025, we spent close to GH¢700 million on national service personnel, down from the GH¢1.5 billion we were doing in 2024,” he added.
The Deputy Director-General further indicated that the authority expects to spend between GH¢650 million and GH¢660 million on personnel allowances this year due to continued efforts to improve the integrity of the system.
