Only 5k security service recruits possible despite 500k applicants – Muntaka

Interior Minister Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka says only 5,000 applicants will be recruited into the security services despite nearly 500,000 people seeking employment.

The limited intake forms the first phase of the ongoing recruitment exercise for the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana Immigration Service, and Ghana National Fire Service.

According to the minister, financial constraints make it impossible to absorb the large number of applicants who have expressed interest.

Providing details during a press briefing in Parliament on Wednesday, Alhaji Muntaka described the early stages of the recruitment process and the number of candidates still in contention.

“The recruitment process into the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Prisons Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, and the Ghana National Service involved mainly body selection and documentation,” he said.

“When we finished, those who got disqualified through documentation were less than 30,000, and so it is left with 400,000 who are now ready to go through aptitude tests and then medical exams.”

With hundreds of thousands still progressing through the system, the minister said the authorities had to introduce measures to reduce the numbers.

He explained that the pass mark for the aptitude test had been set at 65 percent as part of that strategy.

“We have several options, and one of the options is to set the pass mark at 65 so that many more people will pass and go for medical exams. Because the end game is that you could only absorb 5,000,” he added.

Alhaji Muntaka acknowledged that the outcome would leave many hopeful applicants disappointed but stressed that government intends to expand employment opportunities beyond the security sector.

“I know a lot of young people may be disappointed, but they should exercise restraint as this is not going to be the first and last recruitment that the government is going to have,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has urged the government to discontinue the use of artificial intelligence-based aptitude tests in the ongoing security service recruitment exercise.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, the Effutu MP argued that the digital testing system could disadvantage applicants from rural communities who may lack the technical skills required to navigate the platform.

He said many prospective recruits had raised concerns about difficulties completing the online tests used in the selection process.

According to Afenyo-Markin, several members of the Minority caucus have received complaints from constituents who struggled with the system.

The lawmaker noted that some applicants were unable to finish their tests due to limited digital literacy and technical challenges, raising questions about whether the current approach offers equal opportunities to all candidates across the country.