The Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, says the government is considering mandatory drug testing for people seeking employment in the public sector.

He said the Ministry of the Interior is preparing an Information Paper for Cabinet on the proposal, which is intended to prevent people with drug-related challenges from entering the public service.

“Very soon, the Ministry of the Interior will be taking an Information Paper to Cabinet, and one of the things that we are going to do is to ensure that nobody gets into public service until we do a drug test on you,” he said.

Mr Muntaka made the remarks at the commissioning of a newly constructed six-unit first-floor classroom block at Sakafiya Islamic Senior High School.

He said the proposal followed findings from this year’s security services recruitment exercise, during which more than 100,000 applicants underwent medical screening, including drug and mental health assessments.

According to the Minister, more than 6,000 applicants were disqualified after the additional screening, including more than 4,000 who tested positive for drugs and about 2,000 who were disqualified on mental health grounds.

“It is shocking for us this year’s recruitment exercise. When we decided to test for drugs, over 6,000 people were disqualified because they tested positive for one drug or the other,” he said.

“If we hadn’t done this, many of them would have gotten through into the civil service,” he added.

Mr Muntaka said the findings had reinforced the need for government to strengthen measures to address drug abuse among prospective public servants.

He acknowledged, however, that drug use was not limited to prospective recruits, saying some personnel already serving in the security services were also struggling with drug-related problems.

“Some of the officers that we have in the service, some already are into drugs. And we are taking steps to help them to get out of it,” he said.

He stressed that government could not knowingly recruit and train people who were already abusing drugs.

“We are not going to be allowing new people to be trained when we know you are already on drugs,” Mr Muntaka stated.

Concern over drug abuse in schools

The Interior Minister also expressed concern about the increasing presence of drugs in secondary schools.

He alleged that some students were selling tramadol and other harmful substances to their colleagues and urged school authorities to pay closer attention to activities that could expose students to drug abuse.

“Today, in some of our secondary schools, some of the students themselves are hiding to sell tramadol and other harmful drugs to their colleagues,” he said.

Mr Muntaka warned students against peer pressure and claimed that substances such as Indian hemp and tramadol could improve academic performance.

“Drugs destroy you forever,” he cautioned.

“What is the use of that exam if by the time you get A-AAAA, you have destroyed yourself?” he asked.

He encouraged students facing financial and other socioeconomic difficulties not to lose hope or resort to drugs.

“Your future is way ahead of you. Your future is much brighter ahead of you,” he said.

Muntaka shares personal experience

Mr Muntaka also drew on his personal experience to encourage the students to remain focused on their education despite financial difficulties.

He recalled growing up as the son of a kooko (porridge) seller and helping his mother sell bananas, groundnuts and mangoes on the streets of Kumasi.

“I am a ‘kooko’ [porridge] seller’s son. My mother was selling ‘kooko’ in our home,” he said.

He said he never imagined that he would eventually become a Member of Parliament.

“If somebody had told me 40 years ago that one day I could even become a Member of Parliament, I would never have believed it,” he said.

He also compared his educational journey with that of his first son, who started medical school at 17.

“My first son started medical school when he was 17 years old. And the day he entered [university] to start his medicine, I told him, ‘Eman, you are very lucky. You are starting medicine at 17. At 17 years old, I was still in primary school,’” he recalled.

Mr Muntaka urged students not to allow poverty or family responsibilities to convince them that they had no prospects.

“Don’t let the challenge of today—because your mother is poor, because when you go home, you have to help your parents to do one thing or the other—you think that hope is lost. No. There cannot be lost hope,” he said.

New classroom block

The newly constructed classroom block comprises six classrooms, an office and a six-seater water closet facility.

The facility is expected to provide students and teachers with an improved environment for teaching and learning.

Mr Muntaka said investments in educational infrastructure were intended to equip young people to become responsible citizens and contribute to national development.

“Students, all these things that we are doing, all this investment that we are putting in, it is for you to be better citizens than us,” he said.

He urged the students to make good use of the facility and remain focused on building a positive future for themselves and the country.