The government will suspend fresh recruitment applications into Ghana’s security services in 2027 as it prioritises applicants who have completed the recruitment process but are yet to be enlisted for training.
Interior Minister Hon. Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak announced the decision on Tuesday, October 20, when he appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He said the decision followed instructions from President John Dramani Mahama and was intended to ensure that qualified applicants who could not secure places in the initial intake are given priority in subsequent recruitment exercises.
According to the Minister, the government is unable to enlist all successful applicants at once due to financial constraints and limited training capacity, which forces it to admit recruits in phases.
“Because of the financial implications, government cannot take all the people at one go. So it is staggered,” he explained.
Hon Muntaka said applicants who had completed the required screening and other stages of the recruitment process would remain on the list for future intakes, rather than having to reapply and undergo the entire process again.
He noted, however, that some applicants might be asked to repeat their medical examinations if too much time had elapsed since their initial assessment.
“The assurance we are giving them is that when the next batch is going to be taken, it is not going to be that you are not going to apply, go through screening, because you have gone through all that already,” he said.
The Minister stressed that the government would continue selecting recruits from the existing pool until all qualified applicants had been considered before opening the process to new applicants.
“Next year, there will be no new applicants. We are not going to open the portal for fresh applicants,” he stated, adding that the arrangement was based on the President’s instructions.
Hon Muntaka also highlighted the staffing challenges facing the security services, particularly the Ghana Police Service, saying the number of personnel currently available falls short of the country’s needs.
He disclosed that the first phase of recruitment had clearance for 10,000 personnel but argued that the police required significantly more officers to operate effectively across the country.
“If you look at the police, what we need today to be able to man our country very effectively and very well will require almost 80,000 police force. What we have is just 50,000,” he said.
