A former director of the National Service Secretariat (NSS), Dr Michael Kpessah-Whyte, has testified in a case at an Accra High Court in which Alhaji Alhassan Imoro, also a former Director of the NSS, is standing trial for allegedly duping the state of several millions of Ghana cedis.
Mr Imoro was implicated in a financial scandal that hit the NSS during his tenure, leading to his interdiction and subsequent trial in the court.
He is standing trial with 34 others for conspiracy to commit crime, giving bribe to influence a public officer, and stealing.
However, all the accused persons have pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing a total amount of GHS107,897,018.36 belonging to the government of Ghana through the payment to ghosts or non-existent service personnel.
A report by the Bureau of National Investigations suggests between September 2013 and August 2014, Alhaji Imoro and 34 others including all regional directors and other senior officers bloated the payroll with as many as 31,516 ghost names for both the National Service postings and the National Voluntary Service recruitment.
All these ghost names benefitted from GHS243.00 and GHS350 paid to national service persons in that year suggesting the money went into the pockets of those who were behind the plot.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
