Money stolen from National Service Authority could build another UGMC and leave some change

The amount of money stolen at the National Service Authority as uncovered by a forensic audit can build another University of Ghana Medical Centre, and the country will still have change of more than $5.5 million.

The hospital was built at a cost of $217 million, and the amount stolen exceeds $222 million.

Meanwhile, in the news this morning the government of Korea has pledged to inject an additional $28 million to support the second phase of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) project in Ghana.

When the Fourth Estate completed investigations into the scandals at the National Service Authority and were getting ready to publish in December 2024, the officials being exposed sued the publication and asked for an injunction on the story. The court granted the injunction and the story couldn’t be published. But somehow, the details were leaked and some publications including Ghana Business News, published the story.

But soon after, the Attorney-General held a press conference and gave out details of the offending acts that bled the country about GH¢2.2 billion through fraudulent means including inserting of ghost names onto the Authority’s payroll.

Then a recently published results of a forensic audit conducted by the Auditor-General’s Department uncovered more shocking acts including that the Deputy Executive Director of the Authority, Gifty Oware-Aboagye, was enrolled as a National Service Person and received allowances for 12 months, even though she was paid salaries as a Deputy Executive Director.

The forensic audit report found that about eight major categories of financial irregularities were perpetrated leading to the loss of a colossal amount of GH¢2.4 billion (GH¢2,448,202,404.46.).

The total amount found to have been siphoned through financial irregularities when converted to the US dollar based on an exchange rate of GH¢11 would come to over $222,563,855. The amount could build another University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).

Cabinet in 2012 approved the establishment of the UGMC, to construction a 67-bed capacity teaching and quaternary level hospital located within the University of Ghana, Legon.

A commercial contract was signed between the Ministry of Health on behalf of the government and Messrs Engineering Development Consultants (EDC) Limited of Israel for $184,740,001 for the project.

The phase one of the UGMC was completed in 2016 at a cost of $217 million, comprising construction cost of $184,740,001 and financing cost of $32.26 million. Effectively, the theft of over $222 million at the National Service Authority is higher than what it cost the country to build that edifice on a loan.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi

The post Money stolen from National Service Authority could build another UGMC and leave some change appeared first on Ghana Business News.

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