The NSA, in partnership with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Teachers Council, runs additional enrolment cycles for nurses and teachers, respectively. The former DGs argued that the shortfalls in figures were accounted for by these additional cycles.

The Fourth Estate also alleged that the NSA payroll was padded with “ghosts” due to discrepancies between the budgeted personnel and verified postings.

The former officers explained that the payroll is only activated after stringent verification processes, and only personnel who pass verification are paid through the GhiPPS System, a Bank of Ghana subsidiary.

The publication also claimed the NSA system was full of overaged individuals, foreign pictures, and wrong IDs. The former DGs in their statement countered this by explaining that initial data often contains errors, which are addressed during regional verification processes. Personnel with inconsistent information are categorized as banned or pending verification and do not draw from the payroll.

The former officers expressed shock that the Fourth Estate relied on entry data without verifying the actual number of personnel paid per year through GhiPPS. They argued that this reliance betrayed a malicious intent to publish a sensational story rather than diligently establish facts.

Throughout their tenure, Assibey and Ussif stated that they were committed to implementing robust enrolment and verification mechanisms to reduce fraudulent attempts. They urged journalists to be thorough in their work to avoid publishing misleading stories that malign individuals without basis.

The former officers welcomed President Mahama’s directive for an investigation, expressing confidence that the investigation would reveal the true state of affairs and counter the allegations made by the Fourth Estate.