The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has exposed what he sees as systemic failures at the National Service Scheme (NSS), warning that the institution continues to use the same vulnerable digital platform that facilitated its massive GH¢548 million payroll fraud.

Sulemana Braimah made this revelation on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, June 14.

Braimah expressed disbelief at the situation, stating, "What for me is quite strange... if I'm not mistaken, the National Service Authority is still using the same metric app that allowed for this scandal to happen."

His comments come amid ongoing investigations into a public sector fraud case, where senior officials allegedly siphoned state funds through 81,885 ghost names on the NSS payroll.

The MFWA director painted a damning picture of institutional negligence, revealing that red flags were raised as early as 2017 but systematically ignored.

"We had regional directors who were complaining during management meetings," Mr Braimah recounted, explaining how officials reported finding thousands of service personnel mysteriously pre-approved in their regions without proper authorisation.

"Per the mechanism we are operating, the regional director is supposed to give final authorization after validation," he worried.

"But in that meeting, what we are told is 'we will look into it,' and nothing happens. It continued all the way until these discoveries were made."

The scheme reportedly peaked between 2022 and 2023, with Braimah disclosing that "that year alone, almost GH¢350 million was lost to ghost names."

While some attempts were made to address the system after the scandal broke, Braimah noted it was too little, too late: "They started to fidget with the system here and there. But by then, the damage had been caused."

Most alarmingly, Mr Braimah questioned why the NSS, even under new leadership, persists with the same compromised system.

"It's really strange that the National Service Authority, under a new leadership, would decide that it is the same metric app that was used for this scandalous exercise," he remarked, highlighting ongoing risks to public funds.