Radio personality Afia Pokuaa has urged members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to leave Gifty Oware and not defend her in any way.
According to her, she must be left alone to use the court system to fight her battles.
Vim Lady, as she is popularly called, was speaking on Accra-based OKAY FM when she made this known.
“She has been charged with stealing, and with the modus operandi she used, not even members of the NPP should defend her. I don’t know the evidence she will bring to say that she is innocent. Even though she is innocent until proven guilty, this is messed up,” she said.
Read Also: List of Charges against Gifty Oware in NSS scandal
“Nobody should be justifying this. The law says nobody is guilty until proven guilty by the court, so she should use the law, but no one must justify this in any way,” she added.
“NPP must question the people they gave positions to. These people who could have afforded to pay for their fees went in for scholarships, while children of poor people had to sleep with some big men and struggle before they could get it. It is such a shame that appointees under the NPP did all these evil things against the state,” he emphasized.
Former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, has been charged with multiple counts of financial crimes, including stealing, willfully causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering, in what prosecutors describe as a sophisticated scheme to divert public funds through a hire-purchase arrangement under the NSA’s “marketplace” platform.
According to court filings at the High Court in Accra, the alleged offenses occurred between February 2022 and March 2024, resulting in an estimated GH₵38.4 million in financial losses to the Republic of Ghana.
Prosecutors allege that Oware-Mensah dishonestly appropriated GH₵31.5 million belonging to the NSA by facilitating transfers to a private company, Blocks of Life Consult (BLC), purportedly for goods on hire-purchase for National Service personnel. The funds, the prosecution says, were instead diverted for her personal benefit.
The charges filed include:
- Count One – Stealing: The prosecution claims that Oware-Mensah dishonestly appropriated GH₵31,502,091.40 in public funds.
- Count Two – Willfully Causing Financial Loss to the Republic: She allegedly directed funds to BLC under false pretences, resulting in the same loss amount.
- Count Three – Willfully Causing Financial Loss (additional): The indictment also cites a separate sum of GH₵6,956,157.47 linked to unauthorized financial transactions.
- Count Four – Using Public Office for Profit: Prosecutors say she abused her position to receive funds without lawful authorization.
- Count Five – Money Laundering: She is accused of concealing proceeds from unlawful activities in violation of section 1(2)(a)(i) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2000 (Act 1044).
The case centres on a controversial hire-purchase platform introduced under the NSA’s operations. According to the charge sheet, the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) was engaged to provide loans through an escrow arrangement intended to support service personnel in acquiring goods. Investigators, however, allege that BLC was used as a conduit for siphoning off state funds.
