Enlistment must be transparent; only qualified persons have to be recruited - Four security experts

Four security analysts have called for transparency and professionalism in the selection of personnel for various security services, following the announcement of an upcoming enlistment.

They urged the management of security agencies to guard against political influence, ensuring that only qualified people are recruited to enforce law and order and discharge other mandates.

Additionally, they called for the publication of additional information throughout the recruitment process, just as the initial notices have been published in the newspapers, to dispel suspicions in the selection process.

The analysts are Professor Vladimir Antwi Danso, the Dean of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College; Dr. Festus Aubyn; Adam Bona; and Richard Kumadoe.

They spoke to the Ghanaian Times in separate telephone interviews on the announcement of recruitment into the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service, and Ghana Prisons Service, which was published in the Ghanaian Times on August 7, 2024.

This publication, which is for persons who applied in 2021, comes weeks after the Minority in Parliament petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate alleged ongoing secret recruitment into various security agencies.

The allegations were triggered by reports of the planned recruitment of 11,000 personnel from a backlog of applicants over the years.

The minority accused the government of facilitating the recruitment of party loyalists into the security services and, in a petition to the CHRAJ dated July 16, urged the CHRAJ to cause the government to publish the recruitment in the newspapers.

Professor Danso noted that although the leverage of digital technologies by security agencies had brought about transparency in the recruitment process, the issue of misinformation remained a challenge.

“As far as I’m concerned, I think there is enough transparency, but there is misinformation about a whole lot of things,” Prof. Danso explained.

To address the issue of misinformation, Prof. Danso underscored the need for educational and sensitisation programs by the security agencies to dispel any form of suspicion or speculation about the recruitment process and its legality among the citizenry.

Mr. Kumadoe said political influence in the selection of personnel for the various security agencies led to their inefficiency and therefore urged politicians to “take their hands off the recruitment process.”

Additionally, he implored the management of the various security agencies to scale up efforts to address complaints made by the citizenry regarding fraudulent activities that were associated with the recruitment process.

For his part, Mr. Bona said extensive advocacy where qualifications were well spelled out was needed to change the narrative that surrounded the recruitment process of personnel into security services.

He said he was impressed with the manner in which the management of the various security agencies handled complaints about fraudulent activities made by the citizenry, which included the punishment of those involved.

“The media also needs to follow up on stories about individuals caught in fraudulent activities,” Mr. Bona added.

Dr. Aubyn called for a decentralised system for the recruitment of personnel into the various security agencies to allow for the participation of individuals in other regions.

He also urged the management of the security agencies to control the flow of information on the recruitment process and not leave it in the hands of government agencies such as the Ministry of the Interior.