The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has alleged financial exploitation of national service personnel under the Akufo-Addo administration.

Speaking on Joy FM’s PM Express on Wednesday, February 12, he accused the previous government of allowing schemes that systematically deducted money from service personnel under the guise of administrative initiatives.

“There were schemes that were developed to basically fleece service personnel of the little that was coming to them,” Mr Braimah declared.

“One such scheme was something they called ‘marketplaces,’ and I’m sure Felix Gyamfi should be aware of it because, as far as I know, he was a district director somewhere, so he would know exactly how this system worked.”

He alleged that this so-called marketplace scheme was used as a tool to unfairly deduct money from service personnel, many of whom never agreed to any such purchases or transactions.

“People who never purchased anything had their monies deducted. It was simply a way to take money from them under false pretences,” he said.

Sulemana Braimah further pointed out that beyond these dubious schemes, there was a general lack of commitment from the previous administration to ensuring that the system functioned effectively for young graduates.

“I think that we just need leadership that is truly committed to ensuring that the system works. The previous administration, I don’t think had that commitment,” he stated.

He expressed concerns over abandoned projects that had consumed substantial amounts of public funds but had yet to benefit the intended recipients.

“There are a number of projects that have been abandoned after monies have been spent. That is part of the problem,” he stated.

A critical area that Mr Braimah believes requires immediate scrutiny is the payment system for service personnel.

He questioned the extent to which the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS)—the government’s official platform for payroll and public financial transactions—was manipulated or bypassed in ways that facilitated these unauthorized deductions.

“I think we need to look into the payment system because, as far as I know, payments were being made through GIFMIS.

"So to what extent was the GIFMIS system bypassed or sometimes outwitted? These are critical questions we need answers to,” he asserted.

Mr Braimah’s comments add to a growing demand for accountability in the management of the National Service Scheme. H

is allegations suggest that, under the previous administration, the very system meant to support and prepare young graduates for the workforce was instead being exploited for financial gain at their expense.