More than 500 individuals have been dismissed from Ghana’s security services due to widespread irregularities in the recruitment processes that took place before and after the December 2024 general election. This information was revealed by the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, on Monday, July 14, 2025, during the inaugural session of the Government Accountability Series in Accra. The Minister noted that a special committee reviewed the records of approximately 5,200 personnel across key security agencies and discovered that hundreds had been recruited without meeting the basic entry requirements.
The affected agencies include:
Ghana Police Service – approximately 320 disqualified
Ghana Immigration Service – about 730 removed
Narcotics Control Commission – roughly 50 affected
Mr. Muntaka explained that the audit was triggered by public concerns over suspicious recruitment exercises advertised in August 2024, just months before the national elections. The Minority in Parliament had alleged that the process was politically manipulated to favour party loyalists of the previous administration. The comprehensive audit assessed academic qualifications, age eligibility, and medical fitness.
The findings revealed that some recruits were well beyond the age limit, while others were medically unfit or lacked the necessary academic qualifications. “In the Police Service alone, we identified over 300 individuals who did not meet the qualifications,” Mr. Muntaka stated. “Some were in their forties, diabetic, and medically unfit, yet they had been recruited.
We had to inform them that, given their conditions, they could not remain in service.” He also recounted a case involving a Member of Parliament who had lobbied for a relative undergoing training. Upon review, it was discovered that this individual had failed all subjects in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE), which is the minimum requirement for entry.
“They called and said the person didn’t pass SSSCE—not a single subject,” the Minister noted. “Once you don’t meet the basic qualification, you have to go.” Each affected individual, he assured, was issued a formal letter explaining the grounds for their removal. To restore public confidence and ensure transparency going forward, the Interior Minister announced a set of reforms to overhaul the recruitment process.
Among them are clear distinctions between officer and support staff roles, with new provisions for tradespeople such as drivers, cooks, painters, and dressmakers to be recruited into technical positions, not officer ranks. “I know people who studied dressmaking in vocational schools. The security services need them to sew uniforms,” he explained. “But they must know they’re being recruited as artisans, not officers.”
Future recruitment advertisements will also clearly outline job roles and minimum qualifications to prevent confusion and abuse. The audit is one of the most thorough reviews of security sector recruitment in recent years and comes amid growing calls to depoliticise Ghana’s security services. Concerns over professionalism and alleged infiltration by so-called “party foot soldiers” have dominated public discourse since the 2024 elections.
The ongoing recruitment review forms part of the government’s broader reform agenda aimed at strengthening discipline and integrity across public institutions.
Source: Classfmonline.com/Cecil Mensah