Ghana’s fastest-growing sector isn’t tech, agriculture, or even gold—it’s necromancy. Because somehow, the dead, the vanished, and the entirely imaginary have been quietly earning salaries under the National Service Scheme (NSS). According to Attorney-General Dr. Dominic Ayine, more than 9,000 ghost names were conjured onto the NSS payroll—not to fight poverty, but to fatten private pockets and bankroll political ambition.
At the heart of the scam is Gifty Oware Mensah, former Deputy Director-General of the NSS, who allegedly pledged ghost-generated allowances to secure a GHS 30 million loan from ADB—money she used to fund hire-purchase services back to the NSS itself. Ghana may not have legalized sorcery, but she just might be the nation’s first licensed ghost banker.
But this is no isolated haunting.
By July’s first week, twelve former NSS officials will face charges including stealing, conspiracy to steal, causing financial loss, abuse of office, money laundering, and defrauding the state. The total loss? Over GHS 548 million—enough to build hospitals, fix highways, and provide real dignity to frontline workers. 
Former NSA Officials of the NSS Ghost Economy:
- Hon. Mustapha Yusif – Former Executive Director
- Osei Asigbey Antwi – Former Director-General
- Gifty Oware Mensah – Former Deputy Director-General
- Kweku Ohene Gyan – Deputy Director of Operations
- Abraham Bismark Gaisie – Internal Auditor
- Kwaku Dekyi Adjei – Accounts Officer
- Iddrisu Ibn Abubakr – Head of Accounts
- Stephen Kwabena Gyamfi – Director, Koforidua (recently rearrested)
- Prince A. Awuku – District Director
- Jacob Yawson – MIS Administrator, Northern Region
But this séance was a joint production. The private sector, too, had its fingers in the pot. Marketplace vendors now facing prosecution include:
- Isaac Osei Asamani – Stalwart Option Buy Ventures
- Charles Ahomenin – GH OHEC Ventures
- Philomena Arthur – Brainwave Ventures
- Rose Hamilton – Marine Ventures
- Kwaku Opare Agbofa – Franlisa Ventures
- Solomon Dwamena – Alpharita Ventures
- Haruna Mawulaya – Alphaida Enterprise
- Sylvia Ntiriwaa Opare – Sensona Ventures
- Peter Mensah – Lawyer and husband of Gifty Oware Mensah
Some vendors chose survival over silence and have signed Non-Prosecution Agreements in exchange for insider testimony. Others attempted plea bargains that the state rejected as laughable and insulting.
Investigations have now turned to NSS IT staff and the very software developers responsible for the payroll system—suspected of either negligence or collusion. Even the political arena isn’t untouched. Reports suggest Hon. Mustapha Yusif tried to suppress the scandal ahead of the 2024 elections. But the cover-up failed. In contrast, MP Kwame Asare Obeng—A-Plus—is cooperating with investigators and submitting evidence to the Attorney-General’s office.
Dr. Ayine has launched the ORAL initiative (Operation Recover All Loot), vowing to chase down every stolen pesewa. As a former defense lawyer turned prosecutor, he insists internal sabotage won’t derail this reckoning.
For decades, this ghost economy thrived unchecked. Now, justice flickers in one of Ghana’s most haunted institutions. But a flicker is not enough. We need floodlights, forensic audits, airtight prosecutions—and a system that stops paying the dead while the living beg for survival.
