National Service Secretariat (Ghana)

Last updated
National Service Secretariat, Ghana
Ghana National Service Scheme
NSS (National Service Secretariat) logo - (Ghana National Service Scheme).jpg
Agency overview
Formed1973
Jurisdiction Republic of Ghana
HeadquartersFlag of Ghana.svg Ghana
Parent agency Ministry of Education (Ghana)
Website Official website

Ghanaian students who graduate from accredited tertiary institutions are required under the constitution to do a one-year national service to the country. The National Service Secretariat (NSS) is the Government of Ghana agency mandated to formulate policies and structures for national service. [1]

Contents

Structure of the NSS

Organogram of the NSS Structure of the NSS.jpg
Organogram of the NSS

The organogram of the service has a Board of Directors. The Board supervises activities of the executive director and two Deputy Executive Directors. One deputy is the Head of Finance and Administration and the other is in charge of the service's operations. The executive director and the Deputies supervise the activities of the Heads of various Departments. [2] At the regional level, the service is headed by the Regional Director who in turn supervises the work of the various district directors. The service has Regional Heads in all the regional capitals of the country. The service has a staff strength of 342. [2]

Terms of service

All graduates from Ghanaian tertiary institutions must complete a one-year mandatory national service. [3] Every year several ten of thousands of graduates are posted to various sectors as service personnel. [4] In 2009 - 2010 service year, about 67,000 graduates were posted. [4] In the 2010 - 2011 service year, 50,069 personnel were posted. [5] The service is done irrespective of type of sponsorship the individual may have received or the country in which the tertiary course was pursued in. The personnel upon posting to an establishment is subject to the rules and regulations that govern it. In a case where the establishment's rules conflict with that of the NSS, the latter's is used. Again, graduates who are sponsored by certain institutions to offer tertiary programmes return to those institutions for their national service.

Allowance

Service personnel are paid monthly allowances. [3] The amount paid is determined by the Ministry of Finance. The allowance that is approved is what the ministry would pay the personnel throughout the service year. Payment is calculated from the date the service personnel reports for duty at his/her designated post. [3]

Annual leave

All personnel are entitled to a one month's annual terminal leave for the year that spans their service. The month leave is usually given in August to all personnel.

National Service Certificate

After completion of the mandatory one-year national service, [3] The National Service Secretariat issues a National Cervice certificate to all Personnel. [6] [7] [8] [9]

NSS Ghost Names Scandal

In February 2025, the government of Ghana uncovered 81,885 suspected ghost names on the National Service Scheme (NSS) payroll, costing the state an estimated GHȼ50 million per month. [10] [11] Investigations revealed that only 98,145 service personnel were actively working, while 180,030 names had been submitted for allowance payments in 2024. [12]

Former Deputy Executive Director Gifty Oware-Mensah, who oversaw administration and finance, is expected to provide information on the alleged irregularities. In March 2025, she returned to Ghana but was not arrested as planned by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) and is set to appear before authorities with her legal representatives. [13] [12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NSS Mandate". www.80.87.71.99/index.php. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Structure of the service". www.80.87.71.99/index.php. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "NSS". www.80.87.71.99. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  4. 1 2 "About 60,700 national service personnel posted". www.ghanabusinessnews.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  5. ↑ "NSS releases postings for 2010/2011 national service season". www.news.myjoyonline.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Tetteh, Cherko (18 January 2020). "Ghana National Service Scheme Procedures And All Details 2019 / 2020". Avenuegh.com. Archived from the original on 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  7. ↑ Tetteh, Cherko (25 January 2020). "Online Ghana National Service Registration Procedures 2020 / 2021". Avenuegh.com. Archived from the original on 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  8. ↑ "NSS goes digital with certificate". Ghanaweb.com. 13 June 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  9. ↑ Adetayo, Kemi. "How to Register for National Service in Ghana Without Issues". Yo Chale. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
  10. ↑ "Assets of suspects in National Service 'ghost names' scandal to be frozen - Mahama". 2025-02-27. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  11. ↑ Treve, Christabel Success (2025-02-15). "Alleged NSS fraud: Ghost names include over 90-year-olds – Braimah" . Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  12. 1 2 "NSS scandal: Gifty Oware-Mensah returns to Ghana, set to report to NIB - MyJoyOnline". www.myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  13. ↑ Francis (2025-02-24). "Cybersecurity & payroll fraud: Lessons from the NSS ghost names scandal for CEOs & SOEs". The Business & Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
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