NSA to begin GH¢41 refunds for eligible national service personnel by Tuesday

The National Service Authority (NSA) plans to begin returning GH¢41 registration fees to eligible national service personnel on Monday or Tuesday, according to Lt Col Moses Dok Nach Kpeungu, Deputy Director-General in charge of Programmes and Operations at the Authority. The refund is applicable only to those who attempted to register or successfully registered under the old national service registration system.

The President has instructed the closure of this old system due to integrity concerns, such as the presence of ghost names. The Authority had to procure a new system, leaving less than three weeks to establish the replacement registration platform. To determine who qualifies for the refund, the Authority must audit the old records and establish which personnel paid the registration fee.

Lt Col Kpeungu also refuted claims that the NSA enrolled personnel in insurance schemes without consent, stating that insurance companies approached personnel directly during the registration process. The GH¢50 charge at validation centres is meant to cover administrative costs, not printing fees. Additionally, deductions linked to the Zeus Atlas capacity-building programme, alleged to be GH¢60, were actually made by the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) and not by the NSA.

The Authority is currently investigating the matter and has not yet committed to refunding money already deducted. Furthermore, complaints that national service personnel were owed two or three months of allowances are unfounded; the July allowance was paid in August, leaving personnel owed one month as of September. The Authority will continue processing September allowances and other payments, including transport and travel-related claims, before personnel complete their service. The NSA remains open to addressing personnel's concerns.