By Issah Olegor
Mounting frustration among grassroots supporters of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the ongoing recruitment into the security services has forced the party’s National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, to address party members and place the controversy within the broader context of unemployment and the government’s new recruitment reforms.
Speaking during one of his nationwide “Thank You Tour” engagements on March 12, 2026, Asiedu Nketiah acknowledged the growing anger among some party supporters who have failed to secure positions in the ongoing security services recruitment exercise.
However, he cautioned party members against unrealistic expectations, pointing to the sheer number of applicants seeking limited opportunities.
According to him, “If 50,000 persons are recruited into the Police Service, there won’t be any thieves,” he remarked, using the rhetorical statement to highlight the scale of unemployment and the overwhelming demand for jobs in the country, despite the party promise to run a 24Hour Economy country with a three shifts.
The NDC Chairman further illustrated the magnitude of the challenge by referencing the large number of applicants competing for a relatively small number of available positions.
“If all the 500,000 applicants become police officers, where will they find thieves to arrest?” he asked, drawing laughter from supporters but also underlining what he described as a worrying national situation.
His remarks come amid what has increasingly been described in political and media circles as the “security recruitment saga,” following reports that the 2025/2026 security services recruitment exercise covering the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Prisons Service, which has attracted an overwhelming number of applicants across the country.
According to figures from the Interior Ministry, about 500,000 young Ghanaians applied for the recruitment exercise, even though the available slots across the various agencies are estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 positions.
The massive gap between the number of applicants and available opportunities has resulted in widespread disappointment among unsuccessful candidates, particularly among NDC grassroots supporters who had hoped the party’s victory in the 2024 general elections would create job opportunities for loyal members.
In recent weeks, some of these party activists—commonly referred to as “footsoldiers”—have openly criticised the Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, accusing him of introducing recruitment procedures that have led to the disqualification of many party loyalists.
The anger has been amplified on social media platforms, where some frustrated applicants have claimed that the aptitude testing system introduced under the new recruitment process unfairly eliminated large numbers of candidates who had hoped to join the security services.
Some party members have even accused the Interior Minister of failing to reward loyal supporters who worked tirelessly to secure the NDC’s electoral victory.
However, the Interior Minister has strongly defended the recruitment reforms, insisting that the process must remain transparent and strictly merit-based if the country’s security institutions are to maintain professionalism and discipline.
Speaking at a media briefing on March 11, 2026, Muntaka explained that the introduction of online aptitude tests and a centralised electronic recruitment system was necessary to correct serious shortcomings in the previous recruitment processes.
According to him, earlier recruitment systems allowed loopholes that sometimes enabled individuals with serious medical and behavioural issues to enter the security services undetected.
“We are having a challenge with people with mental and drug issues in the service,” the minister disclosed, stressing that stricter screening was required to ensure that recruits meet the necessary professional and psychological standards.
Muntaka has also warned against the use of political influence, bribery, and intermediaries—popularly known as “protocol”—to secure recruitment slots in the security services.
His position aligns with the broader policy direction announced by the NDC leadership ahead of the 2024 elections, which promised to abolish the controversial protocol system that had long been associated with recruitment into state institutions.
During his Thank You Tour of the Western Region earlier this year, Mr. Asiedu Nketiah himself strongly criticised the protocol system, describing it as unfair and exclusionary.
Addressing party executives and supporters in Sekondi-Takoradi, he announced that the NDC government under President John Dramani Mahama intends to gradually eliminate the system and replace it with an open, merit-based recruitment framework.
“There should be no recruitment protocol for the security services at all,” he said at the time.
According to him, the protocol system had been introduced during the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration and allowed recruitment slots to be distributed among a few influential individuals without adequate transparency.
He indicated that the new policy direction seeks to ensure that recruitment into the security services becomes transparent, regionally balanced, and accessible to all qualified Ghanaians, regardless of political affiliation.
Despite these policy explanations, the ongoing recruitment exercise continues to generate tension among some NDC grassroots supporters who believe that party loyalty and campaign contributions should count for something when employment opportunities arise.
The situation has also drawn the attention of security analysts, including Richard Kumadoe, who have described the huge number of applicants for security recruitment as a troubling signal of deeper economic and social pressures.
According to analysts, the fact that half a million young people applied for a few thousand positions reflects the scale of youth unemployment in Ghana and raises concerns about the country’s long-term economic stability and national security.
Many of them have accused the Interior Minister of introducing strict testing procedures that have prevented large numbers of party members from progressing in the process.
The controversy deepened after comments attributed to the Interior Minister during an interview on Adom FM began circulating widely.
In the discussion, Muntaka was reported to have suggested that a significant number of NDC supporters had already progressed through the recruitment stages.
According to the widely circulated claim, the minister indicated that about 30,000 NDC supporters had qualified for the medical stage of the recruitment process, a remark that triggered fresh political debate and further anger among some party members who felt excluded.
However, shortly after the interview generated public reactions, Muntaka issued a strong denial, insisting that his comments had been misrepresented.
In a post on his Facebook page, the Interior Minister rejected the claim that he had allocated or confirmed any specific number of recruitment slots for NDC supporters.
“My attention has been drawn to this. The claim is false. I never uttered these words. I urge the media house to retract and apologise for attributing same to me,” he wrote.
He explained that his actual comment had been speculative rather than definitive, stressing that given the large number of applicants, it was possible that many supporters of the governing party could be among those who qualified.
“Ongoing security services recruitments: Of the total number of qualified applicants so far, it is possible over 30,000 NDC supporters are in there, who knows?” the minister clarified, while urging calm among party members.
The Interior Minister has also consistently defended the new recruitment system introduced by the ministry, which includes online applications, centralised screening and aptitude testing.
According to him, these reforms were necessary to address long-standing problems in previous recruitment exercises, including corruption, political interference and the use of intermediaries—commonly referred to as “protocol”—to secure positions in the security services.
Muntaka has further argued that stricter screening is required to protect the professionalism of the country’s security institutions.
While the anger among some NDC members continues to simmer, government officials maintain that recruitment into the security services must be based on competence, discipline and fairness rather than political loyalty.
