Police screening exercise takes off smoothly in Accra

More than 124,000 qualified applicants are jostling for recruitment into the Ghana Police Service to fill 4,000 vacancies.

The qualified applicants were shortlisted from 130,087 people who submitted applications to be recruited into the service.

This came up at the screening exercise which has started across the 16 regions.

The first phase of the screening exercise to recruit applicants into the police service took off smoothly yesterday at the various centres in Accra and other parts of the country.

The process, scheduled to end on Saturday, January 17, is taking place at the Pentagon, the Formed Police Unit (FPU) Social Centre, all Police Training Schools, 37 Police Church, Odorkor Police Church, Christ The King Catholic Church and Action Chapel on the Spintex Road.

For the first time, the applicants were served with soft drinks, water and biscuits as they waited for their turn to be screened.

The seamless exercise saw applicants divided into two batches – morning and afternoon – to avoid congestion.

At all the centres the Daily Graphic visited, the screening was smooth. 

In all, 29,812 applicants are taking part in the Accra screening.

Screening

The screening was well coordinated, with applicants sitting comfortably, while packs of water and assorted drinks were made available for them.

At the FPU Social Centre, for instance, 1,000 applicants were due to be screened – 500 in the morning and 500 in the afternoon.

Having virtually occupied every available seat, the applicants were taken through the screening process after their documents had been confirmed.

Among other things, they were required to show the text message inviting them to the exercise, present the summary report printed from the internet (original and photocopy), a photocopy of their Ghana Card, biometric birth certificate, Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) certificates and degree/professional certificates.

Once the documents had been examined, they underwent the physical screening that included checking height, eyes and physique.  

Visit

The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, and the Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohonu, visited the 37 Police Church, as well as the FPU Social Centre and the Pentagon, Tesano, to observe the exercise firsthand.

With them was the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), COP Lydia Yaako Donkor.

Addressing the applicants, Mr Mohammed-Mubarak cautioned them against using illegal means to join the service and other security agencies.

He warned that anyone who attempted to bypass the laid-down procedures with false promises would face the full rigours of the law.

“We saw it last week when somebody tried to compromise the system, and the person is now in the grip of the police.

He tried it around Wednesday or Thursday, and by Saturday, we arrested him.

We are watching with an eagle eye, and we will not allow anybody to interfere with this process,” the minister stated.

Paperless process

The minister explained that the recruitment process, from start to finish, was entirely paperless, leaving no room for so-called protocol or middlemen.

He urged applicants to use the official online process, adding that anyone claiming to collect forms or offer assistance outside the system was committing fraud.

He said his ministry, together with security and intelligence agencies, was monitoring both physical and online activities related to the recruitment to prevent fraud, urging applicants to remain patient and law-abiding as the exercise continues.

The minister assured Ghanaians that even if an applicant went through the process and was not selected due to limited vacancies, they could be confident that the process was fair and free from manipulation.

“What will not happen is that someone who did not apply or did not go through the process will be selected over someone who did,” he emphasised.

Commendation

He commended the Police Administration and other security service commanders for their cooperation and coordination, noting that the orderly manner in which applicants were being handled marked a clear departure from past exercises.

“You come here, and there is no chaos. Everything is orderly and dignified.

This shows that the Police Administration and the other services have planned very well and are working together,” he said.

Mr Mohammed-Mubarak said priority might be given to applicants with critical skills that were in short supply, but only after they had gone through the formal application process.

Assurance

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) at the Police Academy, Fanny Aboagye, gave an assurance that the recruitment process would be seamless, given the measures that had been put in place by the administration.

She said due to the large number, the police service would activate six additional centres – the Police Academy, Fire Service Training School, James Town, Prisons Training School, Prisons Canteen, Cantonments, Prisons Astroturf and the Ghana National Fire Service Headquarters in Tema, on Thursday. 

She said the decision to refresh the applicants was an innovation by the Police Administration.