The Minister of the Interior, Henry Quartey, has threatened to release the names of National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament who have brought individuals to be recruited into the country’s security services.
The minister made this threat while responding to a claim by the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and other members of the Minority Caucus that the government has given 30 recruitment slots into the country’s security services to parliamentary candidates (PCs) of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
While praising the performance of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government in recruitment into the country’s security services, he hinted that NDC MPs had brought people to be recruited.
He added that if he is challenged, he would reveal the names provided by the NDC for recruitment.
“When the NPP came into power, the total number of personnel at the Ghana Immigration Service was 6,000, but today, because of President Akufo-Addo, they are over 14,000. About 12,000 have been added to the Ghana Police Service.
“When you gaze into the eyes of the dead, you would see a ghost; I’m going to leave it here, I won’t go down that lane. But if they dare us, we will mention their names and the people they brought over the years, but we will leave that for now,” he said in an interview with Neat FM on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
The Interior Minister flatly denied the claim by the NDC MPs that there was a secret recruitment ongoing and that NPP PCs have been given 30 slots each.
He explained that although there is going to be recruitment this year, which has not started, there would be no sale of forms because the government wants to clear the backlog from previous recruitments.
What Ato Forson said:
The Minority Leader alleged during a news conference that all parliamentary candidates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been allocated 30 slots each to select party loyalists and supporters to fill positions within the security services, including the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Army.
Dr. Forson urged President Akufo-Addo and the government to halt what he described as undemocratic behaviour. He emphasised the need for transparency and fairness in the recruitment processes within the security sector.
“Notwithstanding the fact that the Minority raised serious concerns about the criteria adopted by the NPP government to recruit personnel into the security services, it has persisted in taking additional steps in the last few days that we have seen.
“The NDC Minority can authoritatively state that not long ago, the NPP government again illegally and fraudulently gave out 30 slots to all NPP parliamentary candidates across the country for recruitment into the security services,” he alleged.
He suggested that the move was part of attempts to manipulate the upcoming election; adding that NDC MPs are committed to upholding the integrity of the electoral process and preventing any actions that could undermine the country’s democracy.
Watch Henry Quartey‘s remarks in the below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
