The National Service Authority (NSA) has denied authorising deductions from the monthly allowances of national service personnel, saying the GH¢60 deduction for capacity building was approved by the leadership of the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA), not the Authority.
The clarification follows complaints from some national service personnel over deductions from their monthly allowances, including charges for insurance and other official funds, which they say were made without prior notice or their consent.
Speaking on JoyNews Today on Tuesday, NSA Deputy Director Lieutenant Colonel Moses Kpeungu said the Authority and NASPA are separate entities, with the association independently making decisions on matters affecting its members.
“NASPA is an association of national service personnel. They have executives. The decisions of NASPA are not the decisions of the National Service Authority,” he said.
According to him, the Authority is only informed after NASPA’s executives have taken decisions.
“The decisions are taken at that level. And then we are informed of the deduction process. We were informed that they had a meeting and agreed that GH¢60 would be deducted,” he said.
Kpeungu stressed that the GH¢60 deduction for capacity building did not originate from the NSA.
“It is not a decision of the National Service Authority. It is a decision of the National Service Association,” he added.
Personnel raise concerns
Some national service personnel have criticised the deductions, arguing that the monthly allowance of GH¢715 is already inadequate to cover transportation, feeding and other living expenses.
They have called on the NSA to provide greater transparency on how the deductions were determined and who authorised them.
Kpeungu acknowledged that deductions had been made from some personnel’s allowances but said the only one he could specifically address was the GH¢60 capacity-building charge.
Regarding insurance-related deductions, he explained that personnel who voluntarily enrol in insurance schemes are responsible for paying the associated premiums.
“If you opt voluntarily for insurance, it is not free. You have to pay for it. The Authority is not responsible for insuring national service personnel,” he said.
NSA promises investigations
The Deputy Director said the Authority would investigate any unauthorised deductions reported by personnel and ensure they are corrected where necessary.
He cited a recent case in the Ashanti Region, where a service person was mistakenly deducted an amount, which was later refunded after the matter was brought to the Authority’s attention.
“I got a complaint from one of my regional directors that a lady undertaking national service in the Ashanti Region was mistakenly deducted some amount. It was reversed immediately,” he said.
“Some of these things happen. But once they come to our attention, we will take steps to remedy them and make sure they do not happen again.”
The NSA urged national service personnel with concerns about deductions from their allowances to report them to the Authority for verification and possible resolution.
