ROT At National Service Scheme, Multiple Scandals Revealed

The Ghana Palaver last Tuesday published unedited, a rejoinder from the National Service Scheme to an earlier story published in the paper.

The attempt by the management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) to deny the story about the rot in the NSS in our last edition through an obviously-rushed press statement signed by the Deputy Executive Director, Henry Nana Boakye, has raised more questions about happenings at the Secretariat.

In their response, the management admitted selecting banks through which payments of allowances are to be made to National Service Personnel (NSP).The Ghana Palaver’s investigations have revealed that the personnel were actually limited to these selected banks during the registration process in July and August this year. The process was so rigid that even personnel who already had e-zwich cards from banks which were not part of those selected were compelled to apply for new e-zwich cards from the selected banks.

We have also discovered that every region was assigned specific banks. The Eastern Region was given Unibank, GCB Bank Ltd and later GN Bank. In the Northern Region the personnel were limited to GN Bank only until they began protesting and had GCB Bank added. In the Brong Ahafo Region they were limited to Unibank, GCB Bank and ARB Apex Bank. In the Volta Region the Ho Municipality was limited to GCB Bank.

The Accra Metro was limited to Prudential Bank, which has a close affiliation with the ruling NPP. We find it intriguing that almost all those NPP protocols lists and foot soldiers that Henry Nana Boakye made preferential postings for were posted to Accra Metro. The NSS management may want to explain what the rationale or logic for compelling personnel with existing e-zwich cards to get new ones was.

Curiously, the NSS rejoinder was silent on whether the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GHIPSS) had raised issues with the deal with the selected banks and had threatened to charge personnel for their services. We challenge management to deny this and explain why it was taking them so long to pay the personnel allowances apart from the fact that they are broke.

We also challenge the management to state why they are preparing the payment vouchers indicating the respective banks against each NSP’s name. Is it not to determine how many personnel registered with each bank in order to work the special ‘quota’? Or why was it necessary to indicate the card issuing bank against each person’s name?

The Scheme also said in point 4 of its rejoinder that the vehicles referred to in our story continue to be official vehicles of the Ag. Executive Director. It was however mute on their whereabouts. Many at the Scheme are perplexed. They insist that since the new management took office, the Toyota Camry has not been seen after it was allocated to Henry Nana Boakye.

We were also surprised at the claim by management that they have not said the former Executive Director bought it off. We have it on authority, that it was the same Henry Nana Boakye who made that claim.

On the issue of the hire purchase deal, the management in its rejoinder avoided the actual issue raised in our story. We made reference to Acting Regional Directors being queried with a view to making them face possible sanctions for engaging in the same deals in July this year immediately before the top brass took over the business. They questioned the moral authority the Ag. Executive Directors have to do the same things they have queried others for. Why was the rejoinder silent on whether the Ag. Regional Directors were queried or not about matter?

Why was the rejoinder also silent on whether the Ag. Regional Directors were involved in this new deal or not having admitted there was a deal. We are also curious whether the management had any board directive to engage in such transactions when the board was not even in place at the time they admitted entering into the deal with the mentioned company.

The scheme should be able to mention other companies they claimed were part of the deal apart from Sun Electronics Company as claimed in their rejoinder. Why were they silent on them or is it the case they have no names?

Furthermore, we find it mindboggling that the management of the scheme that says it was following the procurement act has side-lined procurement systems and processes at the head office in a number of deals. It is now emerging for instance that a Mobile SMS postings checking deal with some Telcos that cost each NSP GHc2.00, was done outside of the scheme’s systems.

The most absurd claim in the press statement is contained in point (8).The claim that there is unity among the appointees flies in the face of the real truth. Just like the rejoinder under reference, we are reliably informed that Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) has been issuing press releases behind his boss, an issue which has become a source tension between the two.

Nana B is widely known for outshining his more reserved boss Ussif Mustapha by taking away media duties from him on many occasions. Our sources who are deeply-embedded within the corridors of the NSS, have hinted us of an internecine feud among the three top people at the scheme.

According to our sources, the three appointees have haggled over many issues, notable among them, the election of NASPA Executives. The Ag. Executive Director fielded the Greater Accra Regional President as his favourite while Nana B backed the Ashanti Regional President against his boss. At the NASPA congress held in Koforidua at the Bedtime Hotel early this year, things boiled over. While the Ag. Executive Director Ussif Mustapha was delivering a speech, Nana B stormed out of the conference room.

Later in the evening it was alleged that Nana B reported his boss to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in Accra for attempting to influence the NASPA Elections.

The Presidency is said to have queried Ussif Mustapha immediately compelling him to vacate the congress and jet off to Germany that night in anger. The other deputy, Gifty Oware Aboagye, infuriated by the conduct of Nana B, was heard swearing that she would show Nana B she was an Akyem lady. Nana B however had the last laugh when his candidate emerged victorious

Our sources have quoted special aide to the Ag. Executive Director by name Paul as saying his boss was aware people were scheming to get him out of the NSS. The former administrator of the scheme, Reverend Simon McKandamah has been fingered as a key collaborator of Nana B in the machinations to push Ussif Mustapha out.

This has compelled Mustapha to adopt a silo mentality resulting in his creation of a mini secretariat within the NSS through which he routes official business. The Ghana Palaver has picked up signals that Henry Nana Boakye does not want the current Public Relations Officer to remain at the HQ but his boss Mustapha would have none of that. A staff we spoke to confirmed that tensions were brewing over the matter and blamed the attitude of Henry Nana Boakye for the uncertainty.