Ten recruits have been dismissed from Ghana’s security services training schools after allegedly breaching a ban on mobile phones, while more than 6,000 applicants have been rejected following newly introduced drug and mental health checks.
The figures were disclosed by Interior Minister Muntaka Mubarak, who said the cases highlighted a concerning level of indiscipline among some people seeking to join the country’s security services.
Speaking to students at Sakafiya Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi on 29 August, the minister linked the problem partly to a failure to follow rules at secondary-school level. He warned the students that discipline and respect for regulations would be essential if they hoped to succeed in the security services.
“Look at the vigorous nature of the security services, the program that we carry. It was so vigorous that over half a million people applied. We ended up taking only 10,000. Indiscipline. People get there, people got there and they were hiding their phones. The moment you get to training school, we take all your phones. Some decided to hide their phones and, in the night, they were making calls,” he said.
The minister said some recruits were caught with their phones and removed from the training programme.
“Some of them were caught. At least, I have been written to, at least about 10 students have been dismissed from training school for holding phone.Why will you be so indiscipline? Can’t you just follow the rules? And you know why they can’t follow the rules? When they were in secondary school like you, they were refusing to follow the school rules.”
The dismissals came as the Interior Ministry revealed the results of an expanded screening process for new applicants to Ghana’s security services.
More than 100,000 people underwent medical examinations during the recruitment exercise. According to Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, the large number of candidates and concerns observed within the services led authorities to introduce checks beyond the usual physical and laboratory assessments.
The additional process included drug testing and mental health evaluations. More than 4,000 applicants failed the drug tests, while about 2,000 others were disqualified on mental health grounds.
Speaking in an interview with Pan African TV on Saturday, Mr Muntaka said the results demonstrated the need for more comprehensive assessments before candidates were enlisted.
“We have over 100,000 people who went through the medicals. Because of the large numbers, and because of what we have observed within the services, we introduced additional checks including mental health assessments and drug tests,” the Minister stated.
He added: “Interestingly, over 4,000 people failed the drug test, and we have over 2,000 who also failed due to mental health conditions.”
The minister said the findings underlined the importance of ensuring that recruits were physically and mentally fit before entering the security services. He said thorough screening was particularly important because of growing concerns about the wellbeing of personnel working within the sector.
The introduction of mental health and drug assessments represents a significant change to Ghana’s security recruitment procedures. It also reflects a wider effort to raise standards across the country’s security agencies, alongside stricter enforcement of rules within training schools.
