Development Discourse with Amos Safo: High unemployment and the botched security services recruitment

Recruitment into the security agencies has become an albatross hanging around the neck of President John Mahama’s government.

The poor management of the recruitment process and the lack of transparency commenced in 2025 when six young ladies died. They met their untimely deaths through a stampede at the Elwak Sports Stadium during the preliminary stages of recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces.

No heads rolled and the death of the budding young girls went into history as business and usual.  As if on cue, the ongoing recruitment of into the Ghana Police Service, the Immigration Service, the Fire Service and the Prison Service has become yet another scandal hanging around the neck of the government.

In 2025, it was the Ministry of Defence which supervised the deaths of the six young girls seeking recruitment into the armed forces. In 2026, it is the Ministry of Interior, which has been accused of scamming 500,000 youth of GHS220 each.

Many Ghanaians are wondering why 500,000 applications were accepted, although the Ministry planned to employ only 5,000. Each applicant paid GHS220 for a form, which amounted to GHS110 million or ($10 million). In addition, some of the youth out of desperation to get jobs bought three forms at the cost of GHS660, excluding transportation from remote areas to the screening centres among others.

It has also emerged that applicants who qualify for medical screening will pay GHS1600.  If for instance, 100,000 out of the 500,000 were selected for the medicals, that would yield about GHS160 million.

Quite often those entrusted with political power create harsh conditions for the very poor people they pretend to be working for, only to use the same terrible conditions to exploit them. Most of the young men and women are from poor backgrounds, who are optimistic to serve their country and to become breadwinners for their families.

Plan to extort

The key question remains, why did the Ministry of Interior continue to accept applications more than 500000 when it had only 5000 vacancies. Was it a deliberate plan to extort money from the very poor youth it promised to offer jobs? Irrespective of the motives behind the scandalous recruitment, the approach was wrong. Was it a grand scheme to extort money from the very youth the NDC promised to provide jobs under the 24-hour economy.

During the 2024 elections, then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), now in government promised the youth that it would provide job opportunities in various sectors of the economy, including the security agencies. The government further promised to create an enabling environment for the youth to run shifts on one job under its 24-hour economy policy.

Perhaps, in furtherance of the policy, the government expanded the age limit from 25 to 35 to give more youth equal opportunities of being recruited into the security services. This was what motivated 500,000 youth to apply, without foreknowledge that the government had only 5,000 vacancies. After securing the GHS220 from 500,000 applicants, the Ministry of Interior organized an aptitude test for the applicants.

According to the Member of Parliament for Assin South, Mr. Ntim Fordjour, over 70 percent of the 500,000 applicants had internet challenges during the test. Applicants who had poor internet connection were timed out and automatically dropped.

Many parents and other stakeholders argue that the Ministry of Interior, acting on behalf of the government purposefully created the loophole in the aptitude test to dupe the applicants.  Prior to the recruitment process, the Minister of Interior, Mr. Muntaka Mubarak assured Ghanaians that, his ministry had deplored the right measures to ensure nobody takes advantage of any youth during the process.

He urged the applicants to report anyone trying swindle them to report to the ministry for action. On the reverse side, it is rather the ministry that has fleeced millions of cedis from the desperate youth bent on serving their country and to become economically self-sustaining.

As for Mr. Asiedu Nketia, the least said about him the better. Mr. Nketia, who is reportedly nursing presidential ambition, has been quoted as saying that if all 500,000 youth are recruited into the security agencies, where will they find thieves to arrest? Did Mr. Nketia imply that most of the youth who are seeking employment in the security agencies are criminals? How can the chairman of a ruling party make such derogatory and irresponsible remarks about the youth who are ready to serve their country?

As chairman of the ruling NDC, Mr. Nketia probably attends cabinet meetings, so I wonder what positive contributions this man makes on national policy, especially on youth empowerment and employment creation. His reckless comments about the youth, perhaps, sums up the lack of policy direction by his government to find a solution to increasing unemployment among the youth. His thoughtless comment reminds me of someone’s assertion that he only makes sense when he keeps quiet.

 Security risk

Undoubtedly, the lack of jobs and the deception emanating from the botched security services recruitment constitute a national security threat. Ghana’s unemployment rate, as of the third quarter of 2025, was reported at 13.0%. This marks a slight decrease from a high of 14.9% in early 2023.

While the Ghana Statistical Service highlights job creation in 2024, significant challenges persist with high youth unemployment and high rates of informal or vulnerable employment, particularly affecting women.

Despite dropping inflation, youth unemployment remains high at 13%, with several young people not in education, gainful employment or skills and vocational training. Moreover, in Ghana, over 72% of workers are engaged in vulnerable employment, and thus lack job security and formal benefits. Many young men and women are surviving on contract work which encourages employers to exploit their labour.

These young men and women are often paid less than a thousand cedis a month, which they use for transportation and are compelled to rely on their parents for feeding money.  As stated earlier, the lack of permanent jobs in both public and private sectors, in addition to the exploitation of their labour constitutes a major threat to the peace and stability of our economy.

That is why it is unforgivable for the government that promised to create jobs for the youth to turn round and bilk 500,000 youth out of GHS 220.  The increasing youth unemployment and the acts of omission and commission by state actors is a ticking timebomb waiting to explode soon.

Economic challenge

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026, Ghana is likely to face its most significant economic challenge in 2026 not from rising prices, but from persistent unemployment, as new findings identify joblessness as the country’s leading risk despite recent signs of easing inflation.

The Report 2026 ranks unemployment and limited economic opportunity as the top threats to Ghana’s economic and social stability in the year ahead.

Based on responses from business leaders captured through the 2025 Executive Opinion Survey, the report indicates that while macroeconomic indicators such as inflation have begun to improve, the gains have yet to translate into sufficient job creation, particularly for the country’s growing youth population.

Analysts warn that prolonged unemployment could weaken household incomes, reduce consumer spending and slow productivity growth, with potential consequences for economic performance and social cohesion if the situation remains unaddressed.

Technological disruption

Beyond unemployment, the report identifies technological disruption, including the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, as another major risk. It raises concerns about whether Ghana’s labour market and skills development systems are adequately prepared to adjust to accelerated digital transformation. While technology presents opportunities for innovation and efficiency, the Forum cautions that without targeted policies on reskilling and inclusive growth, automation could deepen inequality and lead to job losses.

The assessment also highlights mounting pressure on public services and social protection systems, pointing to ongoing challenges in healthcare, education, transport infrastructure and pension schemes. These pressures persist amid fiscal constraints that limit government spending, even as population growth continues to increase demand.

According to the Report, although inflation has dropped to single digit, the cost-of-living pressures remain a concern for many households and businesses. This trend underscores the need for balanced and inclusive economic policies. In fact, it is worthless for any government to applaud itself for reducing inflation to single digit while unemployment among the youth is very high. If food prices are down and people have no jobs and no money to buy, that inflation is meaningless.

Return the money

Many Ghanaians, especially the youth and their parents need to back the Minority demands for the government to return the GHS220 to the more than 400,000 applicants who failed the aptitude test. This obvious scamming of the youth calls for class action to put pressure on the Minister of Interior, Mr. Muntaka Mubarak to return the money to the applicants.

It was the same Mr. Mubarak who promised that his ministry had deplored stringent measures to prevent any youth from paying bribes to anyone.  Now it is evident that the ministry had an agenda to defraud the youth. What else could explain why they continued to receive applications for up to 500,000, when they knew that only 5,000 vacancies were available.

Independent probe

I back the demands by Minority Members of Parliament for full scale bi-partisan probe into the entire recruitment process. Such a probe will hopefully make recommendations to refine and guide future recruitments into the security agencies. We must discourage recruitment into the security agencies solely on political party affiliations and the protocol list.

This dangerous practice has been the cause of many criminal elements entering security agencies through the back door. Such recruits often escape proper scrutiny and background checks. Little wonder that some of the bad nuts in uniform often engage in armed robbery and selling sophisticated police and military guns to armed robbers.

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