By Ashiadey Dotse
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, John Ntim Fordjour, is demanding a refund of about GH¢113 million collected from applicants who failed to qualify in the recent security service recruitment exercise.
According to him, the money was taken from applicants even though the government knew that only a limited number of people would be recruited.
The call follows a disclosure by the Minister for the Interior, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, that more than 105,000 applicants have qualified for the medical stage of the ongoing recruitment, although only about 5,000 positions are available for final enlistment into the country’s security agencies.
The Minister also revealed that close to 500,000 people applied for the recruitment exercise.
Addressing journalists in Accra on Thursday, Rev. Ntim Fordjour accused the government of taking advantage of unemployed young people and called for a full investigation into the process.
He said the government created the impression that many jobs were available by expanding the age limit for applicants from 25 to 35 years.
Rev. Ntim Fordjour argued that authorities knew from the beginning that only 5,000 people would be recruited but still allowed nearly half a million applicants to pay recruitment fees.
He further alleged that many applicants were later eliminated during the aptitude test stage due to technological challenges and internet disruptions.
The Minority therefore urged the Ministry of the Interior to refund the money collected from unsuccessful applicants and ensure that future recruitment exercises are transparent and fair to all applicants.
