Security Service Recruitments: “Picking 5,000 From 105,000 Is Wicked” – NPP Communicator Demands Refund of Security Recruitment Fees (VIDEO)

A National Communication Team Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Panford, has called on the government to refund recruitment fees paid by applicants who were unsuccessful in the ongoing security services recruitment exercise.

According to him, the explanation given by the minister for the interior, Hon. Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, regarding the large number of applicants who qualified for the next stage of the recruitment process is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about the handling of funds collected from the applicants.

Mr Panford’s comments follow a recent press briefing by the interior minister on Wednesday, March 10, where he disclosed that more than 105,000 applicants had qualified to proceed to the medical stage of the recruitment process, despite the fact that only 5,000 positions are available for final enlistment into the various security agencies.

Mr Muntaka explained that authorities deliberately set the pass mark for the recruitment examinations at 65 per cent to control the number of candidates advancing to the medical stage. According to him, the measure was necessary to ensure the process remains manageable given the limited intake capacity of the security services.

“Are you going to allow over 400,000 people to go and do medicals when you know you have space for only 5,000? How fair are you to the people? You need to devise a method to slow down the numbers and have a reasonable figure,” the minister said.

He further noted that the pass mark was communicated to applicants before the examinations began as part of efforts to reduce the number of candidates progressing to the next phase.

Despite the measure, Mr Muntaka indicated that a significant number of applicants still qualified for the medical stage.

“So at 65, as we speak, we still have 105,000 that have qualified for medicals when, in actual sense, the total number that we can now take after medicals is 5,000,” he added.

However, reacting to the development on Hot FM’s Morning Drive, Mr Panford criticised the government, alleging that the recruitment process has generated huge sums of money from applicants without a corresponding number of jobs being offered.

Speaking on the programme hosted by Oman Nana, the NPP communicator claimed that the government has collected over GH¢110 million from applicants who paid fees to participate in the recruitment process.

“How can you pick 5,000 applicants from 105,000? That is wicked and stealing,” Mr Panford stated.

He further alleged that although the Interior Minister earlier announced that more than 5,000 unemployed youth would be recruited into the security services, reports indicate that fewer than 3,000 people have so far been enlisted, leaving many applicants still waiting in anticipation.

Mr Panford questioned why the government, led by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), would collect money from thousands of job-seeking youth without guaranteeing them recruitment.

He argued that since many of the applicants are unemployed young people struggling to make ends meet, it would be fair for the government to refund the recruitment fees to those who were not selected.

According to him, the money collected during the recruitment exercise remains with the Interior Ministry, and the government must account for it.

Mr Panford concluded by urging the government to prioritise transparency and fairness in the recruitment process and to refund applicants who were unable to secure positions in the security services.

Written by: Afia Afriyie-Anning

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