Former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware‑Mensah, has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢10 million by the Accra High Court.

This was after she appeared before the Accra High Court on October 22, where she was formally charged with five counts, including willfully causing financial loss to the state, stealing, money laundering, and using public office for profit.

Mrs Oware-Mensah’s latest court appearance is connected to allegations of misappropriation of public funds during her tenure at the NSA.

In recent months the NSA has been under scrutiny after a verification exercise revealed that while the payroll listed over 180,000 service personnel, only about 98,000 were verified as genuine.

The remaining names were allegedly “ghost personnel”, with an estimated GH¢653 million reportedly siphoned from the state.

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General has revealed that a forensic audit conducted by the Auditor-General has uncovered that the amount involved in the National Service “ghost names” scandal stands at GH¢2.2 billion, far higher than the GH¢548 million initially reported.

The AG says his office will amend the charge sheets to include the fresh details.