A bold plan to hire 12,000 soldiers for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) over the next three and a half years was unveiled yesterday by Defense Minister Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah.
The Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to a fair and equitable hiring process during his turn at the Government #AccountabilitySeries.
By August 2025, new hiring policies will be released, emphasizing merit and aiming to guarantee equitable distribution throughout the nation.
The Minister also announced the National Service Emergency Response Readiness Program’s impending start, which will complement the GAF expansion.
Starting in August 2025, this creative project will provide military training to 10,000 National Service volunteers.
Dr. Omane Boamah strongly encouraged eligible young Ghanaians to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to cultivate critical skills and discipline and contribute to national preparedness, even though participation in the National Service Emergency Response Readiness Program is optional.
Updates on investigations into previous recruitment scams were given by the Minister.
He restated the order of President John Dramani Mahama that enlistment in the Ghanaian military will be determined solely by merit and not by financial inducement.
Key conclusions from ongoing audits and investigations were revealed by the Minister:
– Investigations revealed that 34 trainees from Regular Career Course (RCC) 64, despite initially breaching enlistment procedures, were pardoned after completing a year of rigorous training.
– A total of 210 individuals across Regular Career Course (RCC) 64, RCC 65, and Short Service Commission (SSC) 62 were identified as having failed to meet essential eligibility criteria.
– The Minister confirmed that no new recruitment exercise for soldiers (non-officers) has taken place since October 2021.
– The Army Recruits Training School (ARTS) has not trained personnel for the past 17 months, and an audit further uncovered that 2,872 potential Army recruits are currently awaiting training. The Ministry is actively addressing these issues to ensure timely induction and training for qualified individuals.
The public was cautioned by the defense minister not to interact with con artists and fraudsters who ask for money in order to enlist.
All formal hiring processes will be open, transparent, and made public via authorized government channels.
Source: newsthemegh.com