The former Director General of the National Service Authority walked out of the Accra High Court Thursday after securing 800 million cedis bail despite facing fourteen counts of financial crimes allegedly totaling more than 1.5 billion cedis in stolen public funds.
Osei Assibey Antwi pleaded not guilty to all charges when he appeared before Justice Kizita Naa Koowa Quarshie on October 30, 2025. The charges include causing financial loss to the Republic, stealing, and money laundering, with individual transaction amounts ranging from 516,000 cedis to 55 million cedis across multiple alleged schemes during his tenure from August 2021 to February 2025.
The flagship charge alleges he authorized the payment of allowances to over 60,000 non-existent national service personnel, resulting in a loss of 500,861,744.02 cedis. Additional charges accuse him of stealing 8,256,000 cedis through fake volunteer registrations between August 2023 and May 2024, where he allegedly received 516,000 cedis monthly. He’s also accused of misusing project funds by authorizing the withdrawal of 106 million cedis from the NSA’s Kumawu Farm Project account on five occasions without spending any money on the actual project.
The bail amount of 800 million cedis represents one of the highest in Ghana’s recent criminal prosecution history, though whether it proves adequate given the alleged amounts involved remains debatable. The court required six sureties to provide landed property equivalent to the bail sum as security, meaning guarantors must own real estate worth 800 million cedis collectively. Finding six people willing and able to stake such valuable property represents a substantial hurdle, though presumably Antwi’s connections from years in public service could help secure such commitments.
As part of the bail conditions, the court ordered Osei Assibey to deposit all passports with the Court Registry and placed him on the Ghana Immigration Service stop list pending the final determination of the case. He must also report to Police Headquarters on the first and third Wednesdays of every month, standard conditions designed to ensure he remains available for trial while preventing flight risk.
Counsel for the accused, Osei Owusu, insisted his client had been unjustly vilified in the media and maintained his innocence, stressing that he had cooperated fully with investigators and posed no flight risk. The defense described the accused as a respected public servant who has served the Republic in various capacities, positioning him as someone with deep roots in Ghana unlikely to abandon his reputation by fleeing.
Deputy Attorney General Dr. Justice Srem Sai did not oppose the bail request but urged the court to take into account the gravity of the offenses and the significant sums involved. He added that the accused’s recent conduct raised questions about his willingness to appear before the court, though he didn’t specify what conduct prompted those concerns. That comment suggests prosecutors have information about behavior they view as indicating potential non cooperation, perhaps related to how Antwi responded to initial investigations or summons.
The case represents one of the most high profile public sector corruption prosecutions in recent years, sparked by a forensic audit ordered after the National Democratic Congress returned to power in January 2025. That audit uncovered systematic irregularities in how the NSA operated under Antwi’s leadership, including ghost names on payroll, inflated procurement contracts, and misappropriation of project funds meant for specific development initiatives.
The alleged scheme involving 60,000 ghost service personnel represents the largest single count against Antwi. If proven, it would demonstrate sophisticated fraud requiring coordination across multiple departments to create fake identities, generate payment records, and divert funds without triggering immediate detection. The NSA processes allowances for roughly 100,000 legitimate service personnel annually, meaning the alleged ghost names would have represented about 37 percent of the total database during the period in question.
How such extensive fraud could operate for years without detection raises serious questions about internal controls and oversight mechanisms at the NSA. The institution processes billions of cedis annually, paying monthly allowances to service personnel deployed across government agencies, schools, and other institutions. Weak verification systems, inadequate auditing, and potential complicity by other staff members would have been necessary for the alleged scheme to function at the scale prosecutors describe.
The Kumawu Farm Project allegations add another dimension, suggesting Antwi didn’t just steal through payroll manipulation but also diverted funds designated for legitimate development initiatives. Withdrawing 106 million cedis across five occasions without spending anything on the intended project implies either the project was entirely fictitious or funds were systematically redirected elsewhere while maintaining paperwork suggesting normal operations.
The money laundering charges indicate prosecutors believe Antwi didn’t simply steal funds but also took steps to obscure their origins and integrate them into the legitimate financial system. Ghana’s Anti Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) criminalizes various activities designed to disguise illicit proceeds, including depositing cash in structured amounts to avoid reporting thresholds, transferring money through multiple accounts, or investing stolen funds in businesses or property that generates apparently legitimate income.
Antwi served as NSA Director General during the New Patriotic Party administration of President Nana Akufo Addo, part of political appointments that change when governments transition. His removal in February 2025 following the NDC’s electoral victory created space for the incoming administration to order forensic audits without resistance from appointees loyal to the previous regime. That pattern, where new governments investigate predecessors’ financial management, repeats regularly in Ghana’s democracy but raises questions about whether accountability operates fairly or becomes weaponized for political purposes.
Defense counsel’s complaint about media vilification reflects tensions between public interest in corruption cases and defendants’ rights to fair trials. Extensive media coverage of the NSA scandal, including leaked audit findings and detailed allegations, arguably prejudices potential jurors and creates pressure for convictions regardless of evidence quality. But corruption thrives in secrecy, making transparency about allegations and evidence important for public accountability even as it complicates defendants’ ability to get impartial hearings.
The court directed the prosecution to file all disclosures ahead of the next hearing scheduled for December 2, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. Those disclosures should include witness lists, documentary evidence, forensic audit reports, and other materials prosecutors intend to use at trial. Defense attorneys need that information to prepare properly, identifying weaknesses in the state’s case and developing counter narratives that challenge prosecution theories.
Whether the case ultimately results in convictions depends on evidence quality and prosecutors’ ability to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Antwi personally authorized fraudulent transactions with criminal intent rather than being misled by subordinates or making administrative errors. Ghana’s corruption prosecution record shows mixed results, with some high profile cases resulting in convictions while others collapse due to insufficient evidence, procedural errors, or witnesses becoming unavailable.
The 800 million cedi bail, while substantial, represents roughly half the total alleged theft, raising questions about proportionality. Should bail be set relative to alleged amounts involved, defendants’ assets and ability to pay, or flight risk regardless of financial considerations? Ghana’s legal framework gives judges discretion in setting bail amounts but provides limited guidance about appropriate calculations, creating inconsistency across similar cases.
For the National Service Authority, Antwi’s prosecution offers vindication that the new administration takes financial accountability seriously but also highlights governance failures that allowed alleged fraud to continue for years. The institution needs not just prosecutions of past wrongdoing but systemic reforms to verification processes, audit procedures, and internal controls that prevent similar schemes regardless of who holds leadership positions.
