Cancel NSS altogether or make it optional — Kofi Bentil suggests

A Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa policy think tank, Kofi Bentil, has proposed that the National Service Scheme (NSS) should either be cancelled or made optional.

The policy advisor made this suggestion while commending the new Director-General of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Felix Gyamfi, on plans to use the Ghana Card as a requirement for enrollment.

“Good move. While you’re at it, why don’t you cancel it altogether or make it optional?” Kofi Bentil wrote.

In the lead-up to the 2024 general elections, New Patriotic Party flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia also promised to make the scheme optional for those who secure jobs right after school.

Background
Felix Gyamfi, the Acting Director-General of the National Service Scheme (NSS), has hinted at measures the authority plans to implement to curb payroll fraud.

One such measure, according to Mr. Gyamfi, is to require prospective national service personnel to have a valid Ghana Card before enrolling—a move he believes will help eliminate ghost names from the system.

“If you do not have a valid Ghana Card ID, you will not be allowed into our system. If you are a prospective graduate without a Ghana Card, you will not be permitted to undertake national service. These are some of the steps we are taking to remove ghost names,” Mr. Gyamfi told the media in Accra on Thursday, February 13.

He also criticized the authority’s former administration for failing to address the long-standing issue of payroll fraud.

“This was a leadership failure. The necessary checks that should have been in place to safeguard taxpayers’ money were ignored,” he remarked.

This development follows a directive by President John Dramani Mahama for the new management to implement urgent reforms to establish adequate controls and prevent ghost names on the payroll. This comes after a headcount initiated by the Ministry of Finance uncovered 81,885 ghost names on the scheme’s payroll.