Mahama to introduce regional quotas for security recruitment

President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans by his administration to introduce a regional quota system for recruitment into the country’s security services.

He made the announcement on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, during a durbar at Juaboso in the Western North Region as part of his nationwide “Thank You Tour.”

According to Mr Mahama, the proposed system is aimed at addressing longstanding imbalances in the recruitment process, which, he said, has historically favoured urban areas and individuals with political connections.

“We also promised to decentralise recruitment into the security services,” Mr Mahama told the gathering. “We’re waiting for financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance, and when we get it, every region is going to have a quota to send young people into the security services.”

He added that under the proposed arrangement, each region would be allocated a fixed number of slots, and any attempt to bypass the process with politically backed lists would not be tolerated.

“When that time comes, if your region has 100 slots and you go and bring a protocol list with 200 names, we will just throw that list away,” he said.

Mr Mahama’s remarks follow growing public concern over the transparency of recruitment processes within the country’s security services. In recent years, many young people—especially those from rural areas—have complained about being sidelined by so-called “protocol” arrangements, which they claim favour the well-connected.

He said the policy is intended to enhance fairness, ensure regional balance, and restore public trust in the operations of the security services.

Although financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance is still pending, Mr Mahama assured that once approval is received, the new recruitment model will be rolled out.

The Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police Service, and other security agencies are expected to adopt the regional quota system upon implementation of the policy.