A security consultant has questioned the rationale behind charging applicants in the ongoing recruitment exercise into Ghana’s security services, suggesting that the fees may be unjustified given the limited costs incurred by the government.

Speaking on Joy News’ The Pulse on Thursday, March 12, Richard Kumadoe argued that the government bears little to no financial burden in the process, yet applicants are required to pay significant sums.

“What we have said is, why should they be charging the applicants in the first place? If you look at the methodology, what has the government incurred? What is the cost of government in this whole recruitment process? So why should people pay in the first place?” he asked.

Mr Kumadoe explained that the application process is entirely online, with applicants purchasing forms digitally and covering their own costs to travel to document verification centres.

“When it came to the second stage, which is document examination, applicants travelled using their own means to get to the centres, and their documents were examined. For the aptitude test, the government did not conduct mass recruitment to take the test remotely,” he noted.

He added that the government’s direct financial involvement is minimal, limited mostly to vetting, background checks, and interviews, none of which require applicants to be funded by the state.

Mr Kumadoe further stated that charging applicants is not unique to the current government. “For many years, the government has charged people. They’ve taken money from them, not just this regime. In the NPP regime, they were charging people, taking money from them. So I agree that people should not be charged.”

On the question of refunds for applicants who were disqualified or affected by the controversial process, he suggested that clarity should come from the Interior Minister.

His remarks come amid growing calls from the Minority in Parliament and civil society for transparency, accountability, and possible refunds in the recruitment exercise, which has seen nearly half a million applicants competing for only about 5,000 positions.