Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Call for transparency in security service recruitment apt!

The call by security analysts for transparency and professionalism in the selection of personnel for the various security services in the country is apt and one to be treated with all seriousness.

Of late, there has been hullabaloo about recruitment into the security services regarding the hijacking of the process by politicians.

For instance, in May this year, the Minority in Parliament alleged that the government had adopted a scheme in which each New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamen­tary candidate had been offered 30 slots for enlistment into the various security services in the country.

Even though public agencies or organisations like the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) play roles that contribute to the social stability and security of the country, the mention of security services readily comes to mind for the ordinary Ghanaian, including the Ghana Police Service (GPS), the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

The rest are the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Ghana Prisons Service (GPS), Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), and Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

These are sources of employment that should be open to all eligible Ghanaians, especially the youth, to apply for enlistment.

Therefore, if any person(s), group(s), and organization(s) arrogate to themselves the power and authority to enlist groups of people, then there is marginalization and unfairness somewhere, which does not augur well for national cohesion and unity.

In fact, even before the Minority in Parliament cried foul, following which the Majority debunked the allegation, rumours were rife that some people in government and others with some kind of clout were either collecting bribes personally or had appointed assigns who were collecting them from people desperate to secure placements in the various security services.

The reality is that there are some people who are desperate to become security personnel and so allegedly pay bribes to one agent or a number of them to get them placements in any security service whose doors get open.

Emanating from this state of affairs is also the fact that some applicants have been swindled.

Even though the Ghanaian Times is not giving credence to the rumours, it cannot dismiss them outright and so calls for investigations into them, while the recruitment process is made to be characterized by the kind of transparency the security experts are calling for and which calls are shared by the general public.

The truth is that if fraud associated with recruitment into the security services is not eliminated, there is a likelihood that criminals (including traitors) and physically unfit persons can be enlisted, and that can affect the integrity, fitness, and even the safety of the services and the country.

Besides, there can be the concentration of particular groups of persons from certain tribes, political parties, or otherwise, which can undermine the cohesion and unity of the services and give impetus to discrimination.

But while the Ghanaian Times hopes the fraud will be eliminated, it believes it is a good thing the government does not want new application forms to be sold to the public but wishes to know how the 2021 applicants being considered now would be treated.