A metric app used by the National Service Scheme (NSS) has flagged out 14,027 potential fraudsters who are enrolling into the system, saving Ghana at least GH₵112million from being paid to the undeserving persons.
This was disclosed by the Executive Director of NSS, Osei Assibey Antwi, in a statement released yesterday in Accra during an unannounced visit by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, to the office on Monday.
He said the introduction of the metric app, which combined facial recognition technology and identity card checks for verification and validation, has so far blocked the enrolment of 14,027 potential fraudsters into the Scheme, saving the nation the colossal amount of money.
“We had them on lists as potential Service Personnel but they run away and couldn’t register because the system raised red flags and weeded them out, so they couldn’t register,” he said.
Without the use of the technology, Mr Antwi said his outfit would have paid GH₵94million and the amount would have shot to GH₵112million if the undeserving personnel had gone to the private sector.
“All of that money would have gone down the drain. Digitalisation of our operations, started by my predecessor and continued since I came into office, has indeed saved Ghana a lot of money,” he emphasised.
Mr Antwi noted that the digitised process had made it easier and more user friendly for them to introduce new modules based on the specialisations of the students, such as building technology, agriculture and accounting while fostering relationships with relevant institutions.
Commending the leadership of the Scheme for their “out of the box thinking,” Vice President Bawumia expressed delight that the fruits of digitalisation, designed to formalise the economy and fight corruption, were manifesting.
“The use of technology in just one institution has saved us GH₵112 million. Imagine how much would be saved if 10 institutions, or the entire public sector infused digitalisation in their operations, especially in the verification of workers before the payment of compensation,” he stated.
Dr Bawumia urged the leadership of the scheme to keep up the good work.
BY TIMES REPORTER