An investigation by The Fourth Estate, our investigative journalism project, has been recognised by the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) as one of the eight most impactful investigative stories in sub-Saharan Africa in 2025.
Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) is an international association of non-profit organisations dedicated to promoting investigative journalism. In an Editor’s Pick for 2025, Benon Herbert Oluka, GIJN’s Africa editor selects, ‘Inside a National Service Corruption Scandal,’ as the first of eight impactful investigative stories from sub-Saharan Africa in 2025.
“The investigation had a wide-reaching impact. It triggered a reform process at the National Service Authority (NSA) [the government agency which administers Ghana’s National Service Scheme, a mandatory deployment of graduates from tertiary institutions to “support the development efforts of both the public and private sectors in Ghana” ], according to the Media Foundation for West Africa, The Fourth Estate’s parent organisation,” the GIJN wrote of the impact of the story.
It also took note of the fact that Ghana’s attorney general and minister of justice had “praised the investigation, and disclosed that 12 NSA officials were set to be formally charged. The government also suspended the national service digital system.”
Benon’s review of the impact of the National Service Scheme (NSS) scandal story is situated within the broader reality of an entrenched culture of impunity; which often allows perpetrators of corruption in sub–Saharan Africa to evade public accountability.
As he wrote: “In many African countries, perpetrators of crime or illegal activities bank on being able to act with impunity, emboldened by the perception that the communities affected, advocacy groups, or even governments lack the capacity to hold them accountable once an allegation or scandal has faded from media headlines and public attention.
However, in 2025, investigative journalists across Africa have been able to consistently keep reporting on illegal activities — and their impact — long after the fact, and despite attempts to bury any information.”
The Fourth Estate’s expose on the NSS ghost names corruption scheme made the GIJN’s list along with seven other stories from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Lesotho, Burundi, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
The ‘Inside a National Service Corruption Scandal’ story is one of a series of publications by The Fourth Estate that have led to an ongoing prosecution of two former National Service Authority (NSA) managers on charges of corruption involving 653 million cedis (US$61 million). They both pleaded “not guilty” in court.
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.
