The figures revealed today by the Attorney General should shake this republic to its core. Over ₵548 million—money intended to support national development and young Ghanaians through the National Service Scheme (NSS)—has been looted over a six-year period. Not misplaced. Not overspent. Looted. Systematically, deliberately, and shamelessly.
What we are looking at is not a case of minor misappropriation. This is the exposure of a massive, entrenched, and brazen criminal enterprise operating under the very nose of the state. Ghost names. Dummy contracts. Fabricated supply records. Fake vendors. Dummy companies. Overpriced goods never delivered. The level of sophistication here is not incompetence—it is organised theft.
And make no mistake: this rot flourished under the immediate past government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
For six long years, while Ghana’s youth struggled with unpaid allowances and inadequate service conditions, a cabal of officials and politically connected accomplices were bleeding the scheme dry. These were not unknown faces—they were insiders, party activists, known beneficiaries of the NPP machine. They flaunted their stolen wealth with impunity—luxury cars, first-class flights, multimillion-cedi homes—on salaries that should not have sustained any of it.
The worst part? This level of thievery did not happen in secret. There were whispers. There were signs. But they were met with shrugs, silence, or worse—defensive political noise from within the ruling party. This is not passive neglect; this is active complicity.
Where was the NPP leadership when this was happening? Where is their voice now that the scandal has broken wide open? As always, the party retreats behind the curtain of “due process” and “ongoing investigations,” but says nothing of the political patronage and protection that allowed this rot to thrive in the first place.
This is not good enough. If the NPP refuses to take swift disciplinary action against those involved—if it refuses to show even a modicum of moral outrage—then Ghanaians must reject the party entirely. We cannot continue empowering those who weaponize governance as a means of private enrichment.
Now, more than ever, the people demand justice. And not the slow, meandering justice that is famous for losing steam. We demand immediate prosecution of all those named, without fear, favour, or political interference. No musical chairs of adjournments. No legal gymnastics. Speedy, ruthless justice must be served.
But prosecution alone is not enough. Every single cedi looted must be traced, seized, and returned. Mansions must be confiscated. Bank accounts frozen. Luxury cars impounded. We want restitution, not symbolic punishment. Ghana does not need another televised show trial that ends in nothing.
And the looters must never again hold public office. This must become law: if you steal from the public, you’re out—forever. No comeback. No recycled appointments. No parliamentary seats. Those who steal from young graduates and national service personnel have spat on the idea of nationhood itself. They have no business in governance.
This scandal is not just about theft—it is about betrayal. Betrayal of young people. Betrayal of taxpayers. Betrayal of the fragile trust that holds this country together. Every time we treat these crimes as normal, we tell the next generation that power is a license to loot.
Let’s be clear: ₵548 million was not lost. It was stolen. And now we are paying for it—through austerity, new taxes, frozen pensions, and economic hardship. It is time to stop pretending we can fix this country without fixing the consequences of criminal leadership.
The NPP must act—or be rejected forever. The state must prosecute—or lose all credibility. And the people must remember—because what we forget today, we will relive tomorrow.
This is a defining moment. Let it not pass without consequence.
