Over 12,000 national service personnel demand GH¢41 refund as NSA cites missing old-system data

More than 12,000 national service personnel who paid registration fees on the old National Service Authority (NSA) platform are demanding answers over what they say is an outstanding refund nearly a year after the Authority promised to return their money.

A concerned National Service person, who spoke to metrotvonline.com on condition of anonymity, said several affected personnel who recently went to the NSA headquarters in Accra to enquire about the refund were told that the Authority had not received the necessary registration data from the previous administration.

According to the source, officials explained that the former management of the Authority had not handed over the list of people who registered on the old system, making it difficult for the current administration to process the refunds.

The development has left affected personnel questioning why they should bear the consequences of an administrative transition involving two successive managements of the same public institution.

The complaint comes almost a year after the NSA announced that registrations conducted on its former Central Service Management Platform (CSMP) in June 2025 had been declared null and void following a technical and forensic audit.

At a press briefing on October 7, 2025, NSA Director-General Ruth Dela Seddoh assured legitimate registrants that their registration fees would be refunded. The Authority subsequently directed all affected applicants to register again on a new platform.

The NSA said the decision to cancel the old registrations followed an audit that uncovered data integrity problems, including discrepancies in applicants’ ages and other identification details. Reports at the time indicated that more than 12,000 people had registered on the old system, with over 2,000 records raising questions over the authenticity or accuracy of information provided.

However, the anonymous personnel told metrotvonline.com that the refund promised by the Authority has still not materialised.

The affected applicants paid GH¢40 through ADB Bank or GH¢41 through MTN Mobile Money as part of the registration process.

“We went to the NSA Headquarters to enquire about the refund. Surprisingly, we were told that ‘as we speak the previous administration are refusing to give the list of those who registered on the old system to us that’s why you haven’t received the refund from the old system’,” the source said.

The source said the explanation has raised several questions among affected personnel, including what has happened to the money paid by applicants and why the current administration cannot obtain the necessary records to process the refunds.

“Meaning we won’t get those monies again,” the source said.

The personnel are demanding clarity on whether the previous administration has been formally confronted over the alleged failure to hand over the records and whether the matter has been brought to the attention of President John Dramani Mahama.

They also questioned whether one administration can lawfully withhold public records from its successor and why ordinary national service personnel should be caught in what appears to be an institutional dispute.

“Why must ordinary service personnel be caught in a fight between two authorities?” the source asked.

The complaint also comes against the backdrop of wider scrutiny of the NSA’s previous management following the discovery of suspected ghost names on the national service payroll.

In February 2025, President Mahama directed the National Investigations Bureau to investigate the operations of the NSA under the previous administration after up to 81,885 suspected ghost names were identified on the payroll. The government said a headcount found 98,145 actual personnel against 180,030 names presented for allowance payments.

The controversy surrounding the old registration system subsequently became part of broader reforms at the Authority, with the NSA moving to a new digital platform and introducing tighter verification and financial controls.

The current Director-General, Ruth Dela Seddoh, formally took over the leadership of the NSA in September 2025, succeeding Felix Gyamfi. She had previously served as Deputy Director-General (Administration and Finance) before assuming the top position.

The anonymous source said the affected personnel are particularly worried because their national service is due to end on September 30, 2026.

“If we finish, that’s all. But what happened to the monies after our national service?” the source asked.

The NSS personnel also claim that their representatives have come under pressure not to continue raising the issue.

According to the source, some Greater Accra Regional and District National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) representatives have been discouraged from speaking publicly about the matter.

“They have threatened our Regional Presidents so they said they won’t talk about it again and now they are threatening the District Presidents not to talk about it,” the source alleged.

The source further stressed that the GH¢41 refund being demanded is separate from the controversial deductions linked to the NASPA capacity-building programme involving Zeus Atlas Limited.

That separate controversy led the NSA Board in July 2026 to order the suspension of deductions from national service allowances and directed NASPA to suspend its agreement with Zeus Atlas pending a review.

The affected personnel are now preparing to take their concerns to the streets.

The source said a demonstration has been planned for Friday, September 11, 2026, with the Greater Accra Regional Police Command having approved the date.

The organisers have also been invited to the police headquarters on Monday, September 7, to discuss and agree on the route for the demonstration.

For the affected personnel, the central issue is no longer simply the GH¢41 paid during registration.

They want the NSA to account for the money, explain why the promised refunds have not been made and resolve whatever administrative problems may exist between the current and former managements of the Authority.

Their concern is straightforward: if the Authority declared their original registration invalid and asked them to register again, they believe the money paid under the cancelled process should not disappear with the system that collected it.

Metrotvonline.com has reached out to the National Service Authority for a response to the allegations concerning the outstanding refunds, the status of the old registration data and the planned demonstration.

Source: Metrotvonline.com