Report reaching The Daily Gist indicates that Gifty Oware-Mensah, the immediate past deputy Director General of the National Service Authority, NSA, has been warned by the National Intelligence Bureau, NIB not to speak to the media or grant any interviews.
This follows her release by the NIB after being detained over allegations of payroll fraud at the NSA.
According to sources close to Oware-Mensah, she was not tortured during her time in NIB custody but was warned not to speak to the media or grant any interviews when she was granted bail.
This warning has raised concerns about the agency’s attempts to silence her and potentially cover up the truth surrounding the alleged payroll fraud.
Gifty Oware-Mensah’s ordeal began when she returned to Ghana after accompanying the Black Queens to Morocco for friendly football tournament and responded to an invitation by the NIB.
She was granted bail but was re-arrested and detained at an unknown location.
Wristwatch
Oware-Mensah was asked to provide the receipt of her wristwatch as a condition for bail, a demand that has been widely criticized as unreasonable and an attempt to harass her.
It is also believed to be an attempt to implicate herself.
The controversy surrounding Oware-Mensah’s detention is linked to an ongoing investigation into alleged payroll fraud at the NSA where she was a deputy Director General in charge of Finance and Admnistration, which is reported to have cost the state GHȼ50 million each month.
President John Dramani Mahama had ordered the Security Agencies to declare her wanted and confiscate her assets it was rumoured she had bolted.
According to sources within the NIB, Gifty Oware-Mensah was released after several hours of interrogation, although the specific terms of her bail remain undisclosed.
The NIB’s investigation focuses on claims that thousands of ghost names were fraudulently added to the National Service payroll, costing the state millions.
A government statement noted, “This figure is 81,885 less than the 180,030 names presented by the previous management of the Authority for allowance payment in 2024”.
In a related development, the NIB recently detained and questioned Kwaku Ohene Djan, another former deputy Director General, in charge of Operations of the NSA, over similar allegations.
However, the outcome of the investigation will be closely watched, and many are eager to see how the case will unfold.
-BY Issah Olegor
