The Minister for the Interior, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, has revealed that about 25,000 young people who were shortlisted for security support roles failed to attend their scheduled interviews.
According to the minister, the opportunities were created in collaboration with the Youth Employment Agency to help absorb some of the large number of applicants seeking recruitment into the country’s security services.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, March 11, Mr. Muntaka explained that the initiative was designed as an alternative pathway for young people interested in working with the security agencies, particularly because the available vacancies in the services could not accommodate the growing number of applicants.
Under the arrangement, 15,000 young people were expected to support the Ghana Police Service, while 5,000 each were to assist the Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Prisons Service.
However, the minister disclosed that none of the shortlisted candidates turned up for the interviews.
“Other opportunities have been created under the same Ministry of the Interior. For instance, under the police, fire, and prison assistance programmes, 25,000 youth were engaged together with the Youth Employment Agency. Fifteen thousand were meant to support the police, 5,000 to support the fire service, and 5,000 to support the prisons, yet not one person attended the interview,” he said.
Mr. Muntaka also noted that a similar situation occurred with a planned engagement under the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), where the ministry had intended to recruit at least three people in every district.
“At NADMO, we had planned to engage a minimum of three people in every district, but not even one person showed up for the interview,” he added.
The Interior Minister acknowledged the frustration among many young people seeking employment in the security services but urged them to remain patient as government works to stabilise the economy and create more recruitment opportunities.
He further assured applicants that the ongoing recruitment exercise represents only the first phase, adding that the data of applicants will be retained for consideration in future enlistment rounds once more vacancies become available.