Forensic Audit Found 63,673 Ghost Names on National Service Payroll

State’s Final Witness Tells High Court

By Gifty Boateng

A forensic audit uncovered 63,673 ghost names on the National Service Authority payroll, the State’s final witness testified Wednesday in the High Court in Accra, delivering what is being described as the most consequential testimony yet in the trial of former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Aboagye.

Detective Sergeant Collins Woode of the Economic Crime Unit at CID Headquarters, the fourth prosecution witness, told the court that the names drew allowances for no work done during the 2023 and 2024 service years.

Led by prosecutors in evidence-in-chief, the investigator walked the court through a forensic analysis of the Authority’s Central Management System. Excel sheets and forensic files were projected onto a wall screen for the judges, lawyers, journalists and members of the public in the courtroom to see.

The witness testified that the identification numbers attached to the names submitted by the accused for monthly allowance disbursements were fictitious, belonging to persons who do not exist.

Following a series of objections by defence counsel that were dismissed by the court, the witness statement and its attached exhibits were adopted as his evidence-in-chief, formally cementing the forensic findings as part of the prosecution’s case.

Cross-examination opened briefly, with counsel for the accused, Gary Nimako Marfo, putting four questions to the investigator before proceedings were adjourned to Wednesday, November 11, at 10 a.m. The court has scheduled an extended session for Thursday, November 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to allow for full cross-examination.

The testimony had originally been scheduled for Monday, November 9, but the court could not sit because of strike action by the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana. Sitting resumed on Tuesday, giving prosecutors the opportunity to bring their lead investigator to the box.

Detective Sergeant Woode is the last witness to be called by the State. Once cross-examination concludes, the prosecution will formally close its case a pivotal moment in the trial.

Oware-Aboagye is standing trial on six charges, including stealing, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit and falsification of documents. The prosecution alleges that between August 2021 and November 2024 she inserted ghost names onto the payroll to obtain public funds, with the state said to have lost some GH¢29.85 million.

She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains on GH¢10 million bail with three sureties.

The trial continues before Justice Kizito Bayuo in the High Court (Criminal Division), Accra. The case forms part of the wider anti-corruption drive under Operation Recover All Loot, promised by the Mahama government.