Ghana’s National Service Authority (NSA) has introduced strict new measures aimed at tightening oversight of the national service system and eliminating ghost names from its payroll. Acting Director General Felix Gyamfi says the reforms will be enforced without exception.
Speaking on Joy FM’s GhanaConnect, Mr Gyamfi announced that graduates will not be allowed to undertake national service unless they possess a Ghana Card or are from a tertiary institution fully accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).
“If you don’t have a Ghana Card, you are not allowed to do national service,” he said, describing the national ID as a “high-level form of identification” designed to keep individuals with questionable identity out of the system.
He added that graduates from unaccredited institutions would also be barred. “If you are from a school that is not properly accredited by GTEC, you should not be doing national service. These are institutions of questionable character,” he noted.
Crackdown on payroll fraud
The tightened requirements form part of a broader reform programme aimed at sanitising the national service scheme. According to Mr Gyamfi, many of the controls being introduced already existed but were poorly enforced due to “weak leadership and a lack of will.”
A key element of the overhaul is a new mandatory biometric validation process. All service personnel will be required to physically report to NSA offices every month for biometric verification before their allowances are paid. The measure, he said, ensures that only personnel genuinely at post receive salaries.
Other reforms include strict compliance with age limits and formal registration requirements. Any prospective service person who exceeds the approved age or fails to complete the official registration process will be automatically disqualified.
The NSA is also rolling out live verification protocols, which will prevent personnel from being added to the payroll unless they have been physically verified and cleared by NSA officers.
Officials say the full suite of reforms is intended to strengthen accountability, enhance national security safeguards, and protect state funds from abuse within the national service system.
