The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has appealed to Ghanaians to exercise patience with the government over the ongoing recruitment into the country’s security services, following public concerns about the limited number of available positions.
Addressing party supporters at Dodowa on Thursday, March 12, the NDC Chairman explained that although about 500,000 people applied to join the police service, the government is unable to absorb all of them due to practical and financial constraints.
According to him, recruiting every applicant would not only be unrealistic but would also defeat the purpose of the service. He illustrated the point humorously, stating that if all applicants were enlisted, there would be no one left for the police to arrest.
“This is not 500 or even 50,000 applicants; this is about 500,000 people applying for recruitment into the police service. If all the 500,000 people seeking recruitment are enlisted, where will we get the thieves to arrest? If we all become police officers, who will we go and arrest?” he questioned.
He further pointed out that recruitment into the security services goes beyond issuing appointment letters, explaining that the government must also consider the financial implications of paying salaries and providing logistics for the recruits.
His comments come amid heightened public interest in the ongoing recruitment exercise. The Minister for the Interior, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, recently revealed that more than 105,000 applicants have successfully progressed to the medical stage of the recruitment process despite the fact that only 5,000 positions are available for final enlistment
