Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the Minister for the Interior, has expressed concern over the continued abuse of the Ghana National Fire Service’s (GNFS) emergency lines through prank calls.

He therefore called for nationwide education and stringent enforcement to curb the practice.

Alhaji Muntaka said this at the graduation parade of Cadet Course 24 of the GNFS at the Fire Academy and Training School in Accra on Friday, attended by 578 graduating cadets.

“In the first quarter of 2025 alone, we recorded over 131,862 prank calls, averaging more than 40,000 a month. While this marks a 31.52 per cent reduction from the previous year’s 192,545, it remains unacceptably high and dangerous,” he said.

Alhaji Muntaka cautioned the public that such calls not only wasted critical resources but could delay response to genuine emergencies, potentially leading to loss of life and property.

He called for increased community-based education in churches, mosques, schools, and homes, stressing the importance of building a culture of responsible communication.

“The day the real wolf comes, and no help arrives, we will all be to blame. We must act now,” he stated, invoking the classic tale of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

The Minister appealed to the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation to take steps towards tracking and prosecuting individuals who abused emergency lines.

“…Such false calls will not just waste our time and energy, but it denies rapid response when incidents are happening elsewhere,” he said.

Alhaji Muntaka commended the Ghana National Fire Service for its proactive public education campaigns and outreach programmes, which he credited to the recorded drop in prank calls.

He lauded the Service for its increasing operational impact, citing property worth GH¢150 million saved in the first quarter of 2025 alone, more than triple the GH¢45 million saved in the same period last year.

The Minister urged the GNFS to continue pushing boundaries in public safety and digital transformation, while urging the public to treat the Service with the respect and urgency it deserved.

King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, Ga Mantse, traditional leaders from the Okyeman Traditional Council, and former leadership of the GNFS attended.

Also present were heads of sister security agencies including the Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and the Ghana Armed Forces.

Awards were presented to outstanding cadets, while the Minister took the opportunity to advise all graduates to remain vigilant, responsible, and mission-focused in their new roles.

The Officer Cadet Training Programme emphasised leadership, fire safety, rescue operations, public administration, ethics, and emergency response, preparing graduates for diverse challenges in modern fire service operations.