Osei Assibey Antwi
The trial of former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, has taken a month-long adjournment following the inability of the Office of the Attorney General to file all of its disclosures and witness statements as ordered by the court.
This was the third time the court was told the prosecution had not been able to comply with the court’s order to file the disclosures and witness statements, to pave the way for a case management and commencement of the trial.
Mr. Assibey Antwi has been accused of stealing from the state during his tenure at the NSA as well as causing financial loss to the state, all totaling GH¢509,012,281 between August 2021 and February 2025.
The former Chief Executive Officer of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has been charged with six (6) counts of causing financial loss to the state, nine (9) counts of stealing, one (1) count of money laundering and five (5) counts of improper payment of public funds.
Dufie Prempeh, a Principal State Attorney at the Office of the Attorney General, told the court yesterday that the prosecution had filed disclosures yesterday morning, comprising about 49 documents.
She indicated that they are left with another set of documents to file, and subsequently prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable them file those documents.
The court, presided over by Justice Kizita Quarshie, adjourned the case to May 13, 2026, for continuation.
Meanwhile, the court has varied the terms of bail granted to the accused, allowing him to report to the Kumasi office of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) instead of the Accra Office, following a prayer by his counsel, Ralph Poku-Adusei.
Trial
According to court documents, Osei Assibey, who is a former Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, paid a total of GH¢431,761,556.76 to 63,672 unverified registrants who were submitted to the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) for either payment of allowances or for payment of vendors between August 2021 and February 2025 “who have done no national service work.”
The documents said the vendors who were interrogated by the National Intelligence Bureau confirmed that they received payments from GhIPSS when they had not rendered services to NSA, adding that “they refunded monies, not to the NSA, but to the accused person in cash.”
The prosecution’s brief facts further indicate that Mr. Assibey Antwi acquired an e-zwich card numbered 1177042059 linked to the NSA’s ADB account, which was issued in his name and registered using his biometrics.
He allegedly submitted the card to the GhIPSS, and from 2022 to 2024 he received a sum of GH¢8,256,000, being monies allocated for NSA allowances.
“The accused person deliberately did not disclose the existence of the e-zwich card to his successor when he presented his handing-over report,” the brief facts said.
Upon his arrest, and during interrogation, the accused allegedly denied the existence of any e-zwich card in his name.
However, on March 25, 2025, the NIB conducted a search at his house at Dome and found the e-zwich card in his bedside drawer.
“The search was conducted in the presence of the accused and his lawyer. Further checks conducted at ADB revealed that the accused had personally withdrawn monies from the said e-zwich card,” the prosecution alleges.
The brief facts also allege that further investigations revealed that Mr. Assibey Antwi authorised the payment of GH¢7,704,880.92 to Direct Savings and Loans (DSL) for no vendor services rendered, and thereafter demanded and received a refund of the sum from DSL in cash.
Again, investigations revealed that between August 2022 and June 2024, under the authorisation of the accused, a sum of GH¢106,000,000 was transferred from the NSA Control Account to the Project Account (1018631542212) for the Kumawu Farm Project.
“Various contracts were entered into by the accused person as Director of the NSA for services including the clearing of the farmlands and the development of an irrigation system. Although the contractors were paid, the NSA did not obtain value for the monies expended on the Farm Project contracts, leading to a loss of approximately GH¢61,289,843.30 to the Republic,” the brief facts added.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak