The Minority in Parliament of Ghana has called on the Ministry of the Interior to refund approximately GH¢113 million collected from applicants who failed to progress in the recent security service recruitment exercise.
The demand follows disclosures by the Minister for the Interior, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, that although nearly 500,000 people applied to join the country’s security services, only about 5,000 positions are available for final enlistment. The minister also revealed that more than 105,000 applicants have qualified for the medical stage of the recruitment process.
Reacting to the development, the Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, John Ntim Fordjour, accused the government of exploiting applicants who paid recruitment fees despite the limited number of available slots.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, March 12, 2026, Rev. Fordjour argued that the government was aware from the outset that the recruitment exercise would only accommodate a small fraction of the applicants, yet proceeded in a way that encouraged hundreds of thousands of people to apply.
He further criticised the decision to expand the recruitment age limit from 25 to 35 years, suggesting that the move created the impression that more opportunities were available within the security services.
According to him, the process ultimately resulted in hundreds of thousands of applicants paying fees for a recruitment exercise in which only a small percentage could realistically be enlisted.
“Already, we have a national security threat and unemployment on our hands. You promised them jobs. You didn’t add any conditions,” Rev. Fordjour said.
“You knew from the very beginning you were recruiting only 5,000, and yet you did all this to lure half a million people, took their money, milked them GH¢113 million cedis and over, only to turn around yesterday, after you have knocked them out by technology and internet disruptions from the aptitude test,” he added.
The Minority lawmaker is therefore calling for an investigation into the recruitment process, while urging the Ministry of the Interior to refund the money collected from unsuccessful applicants.
Recruitment into Ghana’s security agencies—including the police, immigration, fire service, and prisons service—typically attracts large numbers of applicants each year due to high youth unemployment and the perceived job security associated with the services.
However, the latest exercise has sparked renewed debate over transparency, fairness, and the financial burden placed on applicants, with calls for reforms to ensure that future recruitment processes protect the interests of young people seeking employment in the country’s security sector.
