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The National Service Authority (NSA) has warned that it may stop providing on-site support to prospective national service personnel who need to correct mismatches in their registration details from next year.
Deputy Director General of Programmes and Operations at the NSA, Lieutenant Colonel Moses Dok Nach Kpeungu, said the Authority had gone beyond its mandate this year by bringing several state institutions together to help graduates resolve problems with their personal information.
He explained that the initiative was introduced to make the correction process easier for applicants, but it has also resulted in the NSA receiving complaints over issues it does not have the legal authority to resolve.
“National service, by this act, we don’t have the mandate to correct your date of birth or your name. It is your school that is supposed to correct it,” he said.
Lt Col Dok Nach Kpeungu made the remarks on Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana on Monday, September 7, 2026, during a discussion on challenges surrounding the National Service registration process.
He explained that when an applicant’s name or date of birth does not correspond with the information on their Ghana Card, the NSA cannot simply change the details because the Authority is not responsible for creating those records.
According to him, many of the discrepancies originate from information submitted by tertiary institutions.
To make the process easier for applicants, the NSA brought together the National Identification Authority (NIA), Ghana Publishing Company Limited and Commissioners for Oaths at its offices to create what he described as a one-stop shop for correcting the various records.
The arrangement was intended to save applicants the inconvenience of travelling from one institution to another to resolve their problems.
Applicants could complete the required affidavit process and then move to the next stage for gazette publication before proceeding to the NIA for the necessary correction.
However, Lt Col Dok Nach Kpeungu expressed frustration over the arrangement and indicated that the NSA could discontinue the service next year.
“And me, I will encourage that. And I will suggest it to my director general. Next year, we are not going to do this,” he said.
He said the Authority had been inundated with applicants seeking to resolve issues that should have been addressed by their schools or the relevant institutions responsible for the records.
He maintained that the NSA should not be blamed for errors in information that it did not create.
“This one is not, it’s totally not our duty,” he stressed.
The NSA official said tertiary institutions were given an opportunity to review and correct students’ personal information before national service registration began.
He said the Authority wrote to tertiary institutions on June 9, 2026, and also organised orientation programmes across the country to draw attention to the need for students to verify their details.
According to him, the team he led visited about 152 tertiary institutions and specifically urged schools to ensure that students’ information was accurate before the registration portal was opened.
“The team that I led, we visited almost about 152 tertiary institutions for orientation. And I made emphasis that this year, this time around, check all your details before we open the portal,” he said.
He said despite having the opportunity to make corrections, some institutions failed to update the necessary records.
“You have the leverage to edit, the schools failed to do that,” he said.
Lt Col Dok Nach Kpeungu therefore urged prospective national service personnel to take responsibility for verifying their personal information well before they reach the registration stage.
He also cautioned applicants against waiting until after graduation to correct long-standing errors in their names, dates of birth or other personal records, stressing that such issues should be resolved with the appropriate institutions early enough.
Source:Omanghana
