Ghana urged to review security forces recruitment system over forged certificates
In Ghana, the Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peacebuilding urged the authorities to conduct a full audit of the security forces recruitment system after candidates who submitted forged or altered WASSCE examination results were dismissed. Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak confirmed that several such candidates had been expelled from training institutions, MyJoyOnline reports.
The Jatikay Centre welcomed the authorities’ decision to remove these candidates from training but said that dismissal alone was insufficient. The organization believes that allowing people of questionable integrity access to weapons, intelligence information, restricted facilities, and other sensitive state infrastructure could threaten public safety.
Document verification before training begins
In a statement signed by the centre’s executive director, Adib Saani, and released on September 9, the organization asked how candidates with forged documents had been able to pass the selection process and enter training institutions. The centre also noted that, at the same time, candidates with proper qualifications could have remained outside the recruitment process.
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The Jatikay Centre proposed immediately upgrading digital recruitment portals. In the organization’s view, they should provide real-time verification of academic records directly with the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, at the application stage rather than while candidates are undergoing training.
Call for investigation and audit
The centre stated that forging educational certificates or knowingly using a false document could be a criminal matter under Ghanaian law, rather than merely a violation of recruitment rules. The organization called on law enforcement agencies to pursue proven cases of such fraud.
The Jatikay Centre also requested the publication of the number of detected fraudulent applications, the number of candidates who passed the initial screening, and information about those still training at academies of various security services. The centre urged the authorities to verify documents before admission, conduct thorough screening before training, and hold individuals accountable in cases of proven fraud.
