Kofi Bentil, lawyer and Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, has criticised the government over the ongoing security services recruitment exercise, claiming that the process is deliberately structured to exploit applicants financially.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, March 14, Mr Bentil said, “Our leaders are creating something so they can loot from it. That is the system we have been running.”

His comments follow the announcement by Interior Minister Mubarak Mohammed-Muntaka that only 5,000 applicants will be recruited into the various security services in the first phase of the nationwide exercise.

The minister explained that although hundreds of thousands of candidates had progressed through the initial stages, fiscal constraints limited the government’s ability to absorb more recruits.

According to Mr Mohammed-Muntaka, the recruitment process involved screening applicants for physical fitness and documentation before proceeding to aptitude tests and medical examinations.

Following the documentation stage, fewer than 30,000 candidates were disqualified, leaving roughly 400,000 eligible for the next stages.

To manage the large number, a 65 per cent pass mark was set for the aptitude tests, significantly reducing the pool. Ultimately, only 5,000 positions are available in this first phase. The minister urged applicants to remain patient while the government works to create jobs across multiple sectors.