Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, Minister of the Interior, has responded to recent concerns over the alleged mass failure recorded in the ongoing centralised recruitment process for the country’s security services.

The centralised recruitment exercise covers the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service, and the Ghana Prisons Service.

The process has come under criticism following the results of the aptitude test, which many applicants reportedly failed.

However, addressing the concerns during a press conference on March 11, 2026, the minister clarified that the ministry deliberately set the pass mark at 65 per cent to significantly reduce the number of applicants progressing to the next stage of the recruitment process.

According to him, the decision was necessary because the services are recruiting only 5,000 personnel, despite receiving applications from over half a million Ghanaians.

“So, if you do that, are you fair to the average Ghanaian? Because remember, all these stages, apart from buying the voucher to be able to apply, body selection does not require payment; documentation does not require payment; the aptitude test does not require payment, but medicals will require payment.

“And in order not to shortchange innocent young people, it is better you put in a mechanism that will reduce the number drastically, because once a person goes to pay, I mean, I know the military, when they were done, the medicals alone were about 1,600.

“We are also doing even mental health assessments, and we're also doing drug tests in addition. Yes, I know the deputy and I were just in a meeting, and we're insisting that despite all these additions, the price will still not be very high, looking at the numbers that we are talking about.

“Are you going to allow over 400,000 people to go and do medicals when you know you have space for 5,000? How fair is it to the people? So, you need to devise a method where you slow down the number and have some reasonable figures. So, the pass mark was put at 65, because that was what they were told before they even started the exams,” he said.

Muntaka said the ministry considered setting the pass mark at 50 per cent, which would have allowed far more candidates to qualify for the medical examination.

However, he explained that such a move would have been unfair to applicants because the medical examination stage requires payment.

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AM/BAI

Did you know that there is a fort in Ghana that was not built for slavery? And did you know that it is in Elmina? Watch the story about Fort Jago here: