The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has described the ongoing recruitment exercise into Ghana’s security services under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government as a scam and a complete scare tactic.
Speaking at a parliamentary meeting on March 18, 2026, which brought together TESCON leaders and some Members of Parliament from the Minority caucus alongside the NPP General Secretary, Afenyo-Markin raised serious concerns about the process. He highlighted discrepancies in the number of applicants and available positions, as well as the introduction of an AI-based aptitude test.
Afenyo-Markin noted that the government sold application forms to over 5,600 people despite only 5,000 vacancies being available. He criticised the use of an AI aptitude test, arguing that it disadvantages applicants from rural areas with limited access to technology.
“When you go there and the AI asks, ‘What is the size of a basketball court’ and you are from Bunkpurugu with less access to technology, you could be logged out without your notice,” he explained.
Afenyo-Markin also referred to statements from government officials indicating that around 15,000 candidates had qualified for medical examinations. He questioned the logic, noting that even if only 20% of them passed, there would still be far more qualified candidates than available vacancies.
He further criticised broader government claims of recruiting 40,000 personnel into the security services over four years. Pointing out that one year had already passed, he said only three years remained to fulfil the promise.
“It means every year is 10,000, so you can’t say you will do four years recruitment 40,000 this year when money has already been collected for unemployment meanwhile you are charging one thousand six hundred per person. Do the mathematics,” he questioned. “And if they qualify, they are told there are no vacancies. It’s a scam; that’s the NDC for you.”
The recruitment into services such as the police, immigration, fire, prisons, and others has faced widespread criticism, with reports indicating over 500,000 applicants competing for roughly 5,000 slots amid fiscal constraints. Afenyo-Markin has previously called for the scrapping or review of the AI aptitude tests to make the process more inclusive, particularly for rural and less tech-savvy applicants.
He urged TESCON students and other youth to question and challenge such information on their campuses, encouraging scrutiny of the exercise to protect vulnerable job seekers from what he described as exploitative practices.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence to increase the projected recruitment numbers from 20,000 to 40,000 over a period of four years.