President John Dramani Mahama has directed an increase in security services recruitment from 5000 to 10,000 yearly.
A statement from the presidency dated Monday, March 16, revealed the directive comes following a high-level meeting with heads of the various agencies.
President Mahama’s directives will see the number of men and women recruited to the various security agencies increased from twenty thousand (20,000) to forty thousand (40,000) over four years.
In a Presidency communication shared by signed by Felix Kwakye Ofosu, read, “President John Dramani Mahama has held a high-level meeting with the Heads of Security Agencies, Minister for the Interior and Acting Minister for Defence on the ongoing security services recruitment process.
Following a briefing on the process, the President has directed that the number of men and women to be recruited to the various security agencies should be increased from twenty thousand (20,000) to forty thousand (40,000) over a four-year period.
The President has also directed the Heads of the Security Agencies to ensure transparency and fairness in the recruitment process.
Present at the meeting were the Chief of Staff, Secretary to the President, Senior Presidential Advisor on Governmental Affairs, National Security Coordinator, Inspector General of Police, Director General Prisons, Director General Fire Service, Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service and the Director General of the Narcotics Control Commission”.
The development follows, Muntaka Mubarak, the Minister for the Interior, who had revealed that only 5000 applicants out of 105,000 qualified for medicals will be recruited.
The Interior Minister stressed that the introduction of the aptitude test was to prevent the unfair practice of having 400,000 people pay for medicals for a space of 5,000.
According to the Interior Minister, the pass mark of the aptitude exams was 65, which has 105,000 applicants qualifying for medicals.
Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday, March 11, made this known to the public, revealing that only 5000 applicants out of 105,000 qualified for medicals will be recruited.
Speaking to the media, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka stated, “So, if you do that, are you fair to the average Ghanaian? Remember, all these stages, apart from buying the voucher to be able to apply, body selection does not require payment; documentation does not require payment; the aptitude test does not require payment, but medicals will require payment.
“And in order not to shortchange innocent young people, it is better you put in a mechanism that will reduce the number drastically, because once a person goes to pay, I mean, I know the military, when they were done, the medicals alone were about 1,600.
“We are also doing even mental health assessments, and we’re also doing drug tests in addition. Yes, I know the deputy, and I were just in a meeting, and we’re insisting that despite all these additions, the price will still not be very high, looking at the numbers that we are talking about.
“Are you going to allow over 400,000 people to go and do medicals when you know you have space for 5,000? How fair is it to the people? So, you need to devise a method where you slow down the number and have some reasonable figures. So, the pass mark was put at 65, because that was what they were told before they even started the exams,” he said.
See the post below:
President Mahama meets Security Bosses, directs an increase in recruitment numbers. pic.twitter.com/p5CruWjyyZ
— Felix Kwakye Ofosu (@FelixKwakyeOfo1) March 16, 2026