A major breakthrough in Ghana’s fight against corruption has been achieved with the charging of former officials of the National Service Secretariat (NSS) over a GH¢548 million (USD 53.6 million) payroll fraud. At the heart of this accountability milestone is The Fourth Estate, the independent investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).
Announcing the indictments on June 13, 2025, Attorney General Hon. Dr. Dominic Ayine acknowledged The Fourth Estate’s pivotal role in uncovering the scandal.
“The now famous National Service scandal, which was first uncovered by The Fourth Estate through its investigative journalism, formed a major plank of the oral report,” he stated.
A grateful Dr. Ayine added, “My office is extremely grateful to The Fourth Estate for the excellent foundational work that they did.”
The investigations leading to these indictments began in late 2024, when The Fourth Estate uncovered how 81,885 “ghost names” were inserted into the National Service Secretariat (NSS) payroll, enabling senior officials to siphon public funds.
According to Dr. Ayine, some of the stolen funds were directly rerouted into personal accounts, while others were shared among collaborating officials. “Before each service year, NSS directors submitted lump-sum payments to bolster the payroll. These sums were then redistributed via ghost accounts, cementing the scheme as recurring and institutionalised,” he said.
When The Fourth Estate advertised its intent to begin publication of the story from December 3, 2024, leadership of the NSS secured an ex parte injunction to stop the publication. Upon expiration of the initial injunction, the NSS filed yet another injunction, which The Fourth Estate successfully challenged in court. The court subsequently fined the NSS leadership GH¢6,000 (USD 586).
In February 2025, The Fourth Estate published the first story: NSS Scandal: The inside story. This was followed by a second piece: NSS Scandal: How officials bypassed validation process to stuff payroll with ‘ghost’ names.
The exposé became key evidence for the government’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) accountability initiative. Led by our Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, reporters from The Fourth Estate who had worked on the NSS scandal compiled a dossier of all available evidence and submitted it to the ORAL team.
According to Dr. Ayine, this body of evidence formed the basis of his department’s investigation into the NSS scandal, which has now led to the indictments.
This case is a clear demonstration of how independent journalism can drive systemic change, promote accountability, and protect public resources.
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About The Fourth Estate
The Fourth Estate is a non-profit, public interest and accountability investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). It aims to promote independent journalism that holds those in power answerable to the people they govern.