We are not recruiting party people into security agencies - interior Minister

The Minister of Interior Henry Quartey, says it is untrue that the security and intelligence agencies were currently recruiting New Patriotic Party members into the security services as alleged by the Minority in Parliament.

He said even though there were plans for recruitment, the target for the said recruitment were persons who had previously applied for jobs in the security and intelligence agencies but were not selected and are still desirous of being recruited.

For him, the security and intelligence agencies were yet to even come out with their eligibility criteria for the said recruitment, describing the Minority's allegations as an "incitement" of the public against the government. 

The Interior Minister who was reacting to a press conference held by the Minority in Parliament on Monday [May 20, 2024], where the Minority leveled the allegation urged the Minority to desist from putting false information into the public domain.

Mr Quartey, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso Central in Accra gave the explanation in a radio interview on Accra based Citi FM, monitored by Graphic Online. 

He rather urged the Minority to applaud the government for adopting an innovative strategy to get qualified Ghanaian nationals who had previously applied to the security agencies another chance to realise their goals.

He said it would have been inconsiderate on the part of the government to still advertise and sell recruitment forms to people, knowing that there was limited space. 

The Minority, led by its leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and a former Deputy Minister of Interior, James Agalga, had alleged that the government had given 20 slots to Members of Parliament from the NPP side to get people into the various security services and intelligence agencies.

Reacting to the said claims, Mr Quartey said, it was a "palpable lie" from the Minority and that a multiplication of the said slots by the number of MPs in Parliament far exceeded the clearance that the Ministry of Finance had given to the Ministry of Interior for the said recruitment.

"We are not recruiting party people to do party work," he said, adding that the Ministry would soon issue statement on the said recruitment.