The National Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, has slammed The Fourth Estate, an investigative platform under the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), over its recent exposé on alleged ghost names at the National Service Authority (NSA).
Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem, Nana B described the report as “reckless and misleading,” accusing The Fourth Estate of failing to verify the data they obtained from the NSA.
“The report they published is nothing but lazy journalism. They failed to conduct due diligence. A simple verification process would have exposed the truth,” he said.
He explained that the NSA recruits service personnel annually from four main categories: students from public and private universities, polytechnics (now technical universities), nurses, and teachers.
According to him, some applicants fail to show up for orientation after being posted, and it is misleading to classify them as ghost names without proper verification.
“It is common for some students to apply for service but never show up. That does not make them ghost names. If The Fourth Estate had done proper checks, they would have known this,” he argued.
Nana B further stated that the NSA operates a biometric system that verifies all applicants through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
“The system is strict. People try to enter with fake identities, but they are detected and cannot proceed. There is no way ghost names can be in the system,” he stressed.
He also pointed out that cases of absentees could be easily verified using student index numbers.
In a strong warning to The Fourth Estate, Nana B vowed to take legal action if they fail to correct their report.
“If they don’t come out with the truth, I will take them on. I will take them to court,” he declared.
He urged The Fourth Estate to adopt a more rigorous and fact-based approach to investigative journalism instead of publishing what he described as “shoddy and unverified reports” that create unnecessary panic.
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