National Service personnel to demonstrate over delayed refunds, unpaid allowances on Friday

More than 12,000 national service personnel are preparing to demonstrate in Accra on Friday, September 11, 2026, demanding answers over delayed registration refunds, allowance payments and other concerns at the National Service Authority (NSA).

The planned protest follows growing frustration among personnel who say the Authority has failed to refund GH¢41 paid by thousands of applicants who registered on its former platform nearly a year after the process was cancelled.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana on Monday, September 7, 2026, a member of the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA), Shaibu Sumaila, called on national service personnel across the country to join the peaceful demonstration.

He said the protesters will walk from the 37 Station area in Accra to submit their concerns to the NSA and demand redress.

The Greater Accra Regional Police Command has reportedly approved the demonstration after organisers were invited to police headquarters on Monday, September 7, to discuss and agree on the protest route.

Among the concerns the personnel want the NSA to address are the outstanding GH¢41 refund for registration on the old system, the GH¢60 deduction linked to an alleged capacity-building programme and the legality of a GH¢50 regional validation fee.

They are also demanding answers over why some personnel have gone three months without receiving their allowances and what happened to money. Some district directors allegedly compelled personnel to pay before evaluation.

The personnel are further calling for an end to compulsory NASPA agreements or contracts for national service personnel.

Disputed GH¢41 refund
The planned demonstration 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, then NSA Director-General Ruth Dela Seddoh assured legitimate registrants that their registration fees would be refunded.

The Authority subsequently directed 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 concerns, 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 more than 2,000 records raising questions about the authenticity or accuracy of information provided.

However, affected personnel say the promised refunds have still not been paid.

A concerned national service person who spoke to Metro TV on condition of anonymity said some affected applicants who recently visited the NSA headquarters in Accra to enquire about the refund were told that the current administration had not received the necessary registration data from the previous management.

According to the source, officials explained that the previous management had not handed over the list of people who registered on the old system, making it difficult for the refunds to be processed.

The source said applicants were surprised by the explanation because they believe an administrative transition between successive managements should not affect their entitlement to a refund.

“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 affected personnel are now questioning what has happened to the money they paid and whether the refunds will ever be made.

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

The applicants paid GH¢40 through ADB Bank or GH¢41 through MTN Mobile Money during the registration process.

Caught up in a fight
The source said the explanation from the NSA has raised broader questions about the relationship between the Authority’s current and previous managements.

The affected personnel want to know 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 withhold official records from its successor and why ordinary national service personnel should bear the consequences.

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

The complaint comes amid 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 subsequently triggered broader reforms at the Authority, including the migration from the old registration platform to a new digital system and tighter verification and financial controls.

Ruth Dela Seddoh formally took over as Director-General of the NSA in September 2025, succeeding Felix Gyamfi.

Refund separate from Zeus Atlas deductions

The affected personnel have also stressed that the GH¢41 registration refund is separate from the controversy surrounding deductions linked to a NASPA capacity-building programme involving Zeus Atlas Limited.

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

The personnel are therefore demanding separate answers on the GH¢60 deduction associated with the alleged capacity-building programme, alongside the other concerns they intend to raise during Friday’s demonstration.

Concerns over end of national service
The delayed refund has become more urgent for some personnel because their national service is scheduled to end on September 30, 2026.

The anonymous source said affected personnel fear that they could complete their service without ever receiving the money they are owed.

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

The source also alleged that some Greater Accra Regional and District NASPA representatives had been discouraged from speaking publicly about the refund issue.

“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 allegations have not been independently verified.

For the affected personnel, however, the issue goes beyond the GH¢41 refund.

They want the NSA to account for the money paid under the cancelled registration process, explain why the promised refunds have not been made and resolve whatever administrative difficulties exist between the current and former managements of the Authority.

Their position is that if the NSA declared their original registration invalid and subsequently required them to register again, the money paid under the cancelled process should be refunded.

- Gota Lois Atsufe Quarcoo | Metrotvonline.com