The National Service Authority (NSA) has pushed back against complaints about difficulties with the National Service registration process, saying tertiary institutions are largely responsible for errors in students’ personal information.
Deputy Director General of Programmes and Operations at the NSA, Lieutenant Colonel Moses Dok Nach Kpeungu, explained that the Authority relies on data submitted by accredited tertiary institutions and does not have the mandate to alter students’ names or dates of birth.
Speaking on Good Afternoon Ghana on Metro TV on Monday, September 7, 2026, he said tertiary institutions accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) are required to submit class lists of their final-year students to the NSA.
“Now, every institution, once you have accreditation with GTEC, you are supposed to submit the class list of your final year students,” he said.
According to Lt Col Dok Nach Kpeungu, registration problems often occur when information submitted by a tertiary institution does not match the details on a student’s Ghana Card.
“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.
Institutions Given Time to Verify Students’ Details
The NSA official said tertiary institutions were given an opportunity this year to review and correct students’ information before the registration process began.
He said the Authority wrote to all tertiary institutions on June 9, 2026, giving them three months to verify the information submitted.
“We sent a letter to all tertiary institutions on the 9th of June, 2026. Three clear months,” he said.
He added that NSA officials also visited about 152 tertiary institutions to educate students and administrators on the registration process and emphasise the importance of verifying personal information.
“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.
Name Arrangement Can Trigger Registration Mismatches
Lt Col Dok Nach Kpeungu further explained that discrepancies in the arrangement of a student’s names can also cause the registration system to reject an application.
Using Metro TV host Desmond Okraku Danso as an example, he explained that if a student’s name is arranged differently from the records submitted by the tertiary institution, the system could identify the information as a mismatch.
He stressed that the data submitted by the institution forms the basis of the NSA’s registration process.
“The schools failed to do that. You have the leverage to edit, the schools failed to do that,” he said.
NSA Raises Concern Over Alleged Age Manipulation
The NSA official also raised concerns about cases involving mature students who allegedly alter their ages to meet university admission requirements and later attempt to reverse those details during National Service registration.
He said such cases should not simply be treated as routine data corrections.
According to him, some mature-entry applicants allegedly increase their ages to satisfy admission requirements before subsequently attempting to change the information back.
“It is fraud. You lied about your age,” he said.
Lt Col Dok Nach Kpeungu maintained that recurring complaints about registration mismatches should not automatically be attributed to the NSA, insisting that students and their institutions have a responsibility to ensure that personal records are accurate before the registration process begins.
“It’s not about national service,” he said.
