Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, Minister of the Interior, has revealed that over 1,300 applicants in a recent security services recruitment exercise tested positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) during mandated medical screening.
Speaking on Monday, July 6, 2026, before Parliament’s Assurances Committee, the Minister stated that the medical examination was a regular part of the hiring procedure to assess candidates’ health and fitness before to enlistment in the various security forces.
Mr. Muntaka clarified that in order to prevent creating emotional anguish, especially in situations involving delicate medical illnesses like HIV, candidates who were disqualified on medical grounds were not immediately notified of the specific reasons.
He stated, “The recent recruitment, we have about 1,300 or so that were on HIV, and they said, can you imagine sending somebody the results that you have HIV? I mean that’s not the procedure. The person has to go through some orientation.”
The Minister claims that applicants who did not match the medical requirements were instead given contact information so they may ask for more information if they wanted to know why they had been rejected.
“One of the things we did was that when you get disqualified, you are given a contact to reach out. If you are interested in knowing the details, then when you call, they assist you to let you know,” he explained.
According to Mr. Muntaka, it is crucial that applicants receive the proper counselling and medical care because some of the medical issues found during the screening are treatable.
He said, “Interestingly, some of the things that we realise are treatable, so people need to know and then also get treatment so that in subsequent recruitment they could join.”
Source: newsthemegh.com