The National Service Authority (NSA) says the refund of the GH¢41 registration fee to eligible national service personnel is expected to begin by Monday or Tuesday.
According to the Deputy Director-General in charge of Programmes and Operations at the Authority, Lt Col Moses Dok Nach Kpeungu, only personnel who paid the fee while attempting to register, or who successfully registered, under the old national service registration system will receive the refund.
“The GHC41 that they said we promised them a refund, it is true. That GHC41 basically is for those who attempted to register or who were successfully registered in the old system,” he said.
He explained that the president had instructed the old registration system to be shut down following concerns over its integrity, including the presence of suspected ghost names.
A new system had to be procured, leaving the Authority with less than three weeks to establish a replacement registration platform.
Lt Col Kpeungu said the Authority had to audit the old records first, as it could not simply transfer them into the new system and needed to establish which personnel had actually paid the registration fee.
“We needed to also liaise with the administrator of the previous system to ensure that we conduct an audit and then those who actually paid for it are given the refund,” he said.
“We are almost done with the audit, and I’m sure by Monday or Tuesday, they’ll get their monies.”
Lt Col Kpeungu further denied claims that the Authority enrolled personnel in insurance schemes without their consent, following reports of GH¢5 monthly deductions.
According to him, insurance companies engaged personnel directly at registration centres.
“During the process of the registration, these insurance companies are also looking for clients so they move to the registration centres and they begin to engage them. They give them forms and they fill. Once you fill the form, it means that you have subscribed to it,” he said.
He, however, acknowledged complaints from some personnel who said deductions continued even after they had cancelled their insurance subscriptions.
The Deputy Director-General also disputed claims that the GH¢50 charged at some validation centres was a printing fee, explaining that it was intended to cover administrative arrangements at the centres.
“Nobody will say that you should pay 50 Ghana cedis for printing. How much is a sheet of paper?” he said.
“These are administrative costs. When you come to the registration centre, you need a canopy, you need chairs, you need water because some people come at 5am and sit there until maybe 12pm or 1pm.”
Touching on the GH¢60 deduction linked to the Zeus Atlas capacity-building programme, Lt Col Kpeungu said the arrangement was made by the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA), and not the NSA.
He said the Authority’s governing board directed that the deductions be stopped and an investigation conducted when the issue came up.
“When the issue came up, the governing board of National Service instructed that we should cease deductions and then institute an investigation into the matter. We have started the investigation,” he said.
He added that the NSA could not immediately commit to refunding money already deducted for the programme.
“The authority is not the one that engaged them. It should be between NASPA and then the company,” he said.
He also disputed claims that national service personnel were owed two or three months of allowances indicating that the July allowance was paid in August. This means personnel were currently owed one month as of September.
He explained that the payment process begins at the district level, where evaluation forms are completed and validated before being forwarded for payment.
“The July allowance was paid last month, which is August. So currently, in September, they are owed one month,” he said.
He added that the Authority still had to process September allowances and other payments, including transport and travel-related claims, before personnel complete their service.
Lt Col Kpeungu said the Authority is open to engaging personnel and addressing the various concerns raised.
