Thousands of Ghanaian youth trooped to various centres in Kumasi to participate in a documentation and medical screening exercise for recruitment into Ghana’s security services on Monday.

The young job seekers anticipate their enlistment into the Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Prisons Service and the Ghana Immigration Service will end the long period of being unemployed.

The medical screening and documentation exercise is expected to end by the close of week. 

The unemployed youth, including university graduates, joined long queues at the various centres for their turns to undergo the screening exercise.

One of the applicants, John Owusu, shared his experience. 

“I received a message on Saturday indicating I should report to Baba Yara Sports stadium today at exactly 6am. I got here around 5:45am.

“When I came here, there were about 500 of us here. So, I joined the queue from the AMASS gate to this place,” he said. 

According to Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Charles Yaw Bediako of the Ghana Immigration Service, successful applicants will take an aptitude test on Saturday to complete the recruitment process. 

“The exercise will take take place from Monday through to Thursday. On Friday, we will break and they’ll write the aptitude test on Saturday.

“It’s been good so far. We’ve not had any problems. It’s the system we are using. It’s not only about looking at a person and telling them to leave. 

“We key everything into the system and no one can run over the system. They’re all here to go through the system,” he said. 

The Trading Economics global macro model has estimated Ghana’s unemployment rate will increase from 4.53% to 4.60% by the end of 2021. 

Moreover, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, has revealed the public sector can no longer employ the youth to reduce Ghana’s unemployment rate. 

In spite of the revelation, some applicants are hopeful they will be recruited.

Yushaw Ahmed is one of the applicants who is hopeful of being recruited. 

 “We’re trying our luck. Because, the unemployment rate is just too much. So you shoot your shot, if it succeeds that’s it,” he said.