The Minister for the Interior, Henry Quartey, has firmly refuted claims that the government is illegally enlisting members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into the security services.
The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of illegally recruiting NPP members into the security services ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The caucus claims that every NPP Parliamentary Candidate has been allocated 30 slots for enlistment into the various security services, a move they believe is designed to influence the December polls.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, expressed these concerns during a press conference, warning that any unauthorised actions by these recruits, dubbed as NPP thugs in uniform, would be met with strong opposition from National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters.
In a conversation with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Monday, Mr. Quartey labelled the minority’s claim as regrettable, emphasising that the government is not involved in such activities.
He further highlighted that recruitment has not yet begun and, when it does, it will not be conducted covertly.
He explained that the government’s intention is to clear the backlog of recruits from previous years, which is why there has been no advertisement. However, he mentioned that the agencies will soon disclose the eligibility criteria for the recruits.
“It is rather unfortunate that MPs and of course a leader, Minority Leader and a former deputy minister of Interior could actually spew this falsehood into the public. MPs currently are about 137…it cannot be possible, it is not and it cannot be possible. I am rather disappointed in this approach…Yes, we are recruiting but it is not a secret recruitment. We haven’t even started. The agencies are going to send the eligibility criteria. I am sure by this week they will do that.”
“What we are saying rather is that look in the last couple of years people have gone to buy forms. And for some reasons, they could not gain admission into the security and intelligence agencies. So we thought it wise that we don’t have to advertise anymore for people to continuously pay monies because you have a certain number of people that per the clearance you have to recruit.
“But I want to say on authority and I want to say again on authority that giving 30 slots to MPs is false. It is not true. It has never happened before and I am surprised that they want to go on this tangent,” he stated.
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