RECRUITMENT IN THE GHANA ARMED FORCES; THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Young energetic and vibrant men and women across the country aspire to join the unified Armed Force of Ghana, at various levels, which consists of the Army, Navy and the Air Force. The Ghanaian tri-service exists to primarily protect the territories of the country, (land, waters and airspace) and provide security for its people.

Recruitment and enlistment into the Ghana Armed Forces however gets the more stringent as the years go by.Each passing year brings along with it a complexity of issues from the perspective of applicants.

Unlike in the United States of America, according to the AFRICA Command Sergeant Major Darrin Bohn, which has a relatively less rigorous enlistment procedure, Ghana has a peculiar case; owing in part to the massive youth unemployment situation in the country.

While Command Sergeant Major Bohn confesses the limitless love of the American youth to serve their state,plays a key role in who gets recruited into the US Army,in Ghana,the desperate search for a job reigns paramount before any other consideration.But how can “love for country” be gauged and quantified?

As human an institution as the corps, there are bound to be bad nuts who will infiltrate it and carry out their selfish activities,however,many of these are found out and and flushed out,for true character cannot be cloaked forever.

Just attempt to create a “watertight” check procedure for any activity, and you are certainly going to have fraudsters unleash their cunning tricks to beat unsuspecting individuals, usually desperate ones.

It is not uncommon to hear reports of fraud in the enlistment procedures of the Force, but over the years, there’s been a strategic plan to halt the activities of these guys.

GENERAL ELIGIBILITY

Like any other entity seeking to recruit employees and staff during a given period, the Ghana Armed Forces has its own general eligibility requirements for recruiting personnel into the force. Once these are met, the specifics would follow.

The individual seeking to join,must be a Ghanaian citizen by birth,and of good behaviour.The applicant,ordinarily should be not less than 18 years and not be more than 25 years by 31 December of that year.

Other considerations include;a clean bill of medical health,determined by the Armed Forces’ standards,a minimum height of 1.68m (5’6”) for males and 1.57m (5’2”) for females,and for Military Police only;the applicant must be of a minimum height 1.75m (5’9”) for males and 1.70m (5’7”) for females.

The applicant must necessarily be unmarried, and must have six (6) Credits (Not less than grade 6) BECE level, including English and Mathematics. There are however other special requirements for specialised units in the force.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT

For Army Candidates,(Infantry /Armour/Artillery/Military Police),in addition to the General Eligibility requirement,applicants must have 6 Credits (not less than grade C6) at WASSCE level, including English and Mathematics.

The Pay Corps applicants must also have any of ; Six Credits (not less than grade C6) at WASSCE including English and Mathematics,Accounting or Business options,or an RSA Stage III in Accounting or a Diploma in Business Studies (Accounting Option).

For the Engineer Corps (Electricians) of the force, applicants are required to have any of Ghana Education Service (GES) Intermediate Certificate in Electrical Installation, a Ghana Education Service (GES) or COVET Certificate II in Electrical Works and a City and Guilds Certificate in Electrical Engineering.

Meanwhile, Plant Mechanics/Fitters must possess in addition to the General Eligibility applicants, a Ghana Education Service (GES) Intermediate Certificate in Plant Mechanic/Fitting, a Ghana Education Service (GES) or COVET Certificate II in Plant Mechanic/Fitting or a City and Guilds Certificate in Electrical/Mechanical Engineering.

As is the categorisation for special corps, the Survey Assistants’ seeker is compulsorily enjoined to have a Ghana Education Service (GES) Intermediate Certificate in Surveying. Alternatively, the applicant could have a Ghana Education Service (GES) or COVET Certificate II in Surveying.

For Painting/Sign writing, the applicant, in addition to the general eligibility rules must have any of the following:a Ghana Education Service (GES) Intermediate Certificate in Painting/Sign Writing,a Ghana Education Service (GES) or COVET Certificate II in Painting/Sign Writing,or City and Guilds Certificate in Painting/Sign Writing among other trade requirements.

PROCEDURE

To start with, an applicant must acquire a scratch card from designated regional post offices across the ten regions and then log on to the recruitment portal, before filling in their particulars.

During this procedure, which sometimes traverses months, transportation, feeding and accommodation of applicants are taken care of by themselves, following which short-listed applicants will be invited for physical and final screening.

At a stage known as Body-selection, individuals are screened in order that they meet the physical requirements of the Ghana Armed Forces, a process which is followed by the cross-examination of documents submitted by applicants to test their authenticity and eligibility to be recruited.

steeple chase exercise by a section of soldiers

These documents include Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results slips and school certificates, and other higher certificates one may have acquired, as well as applicants’ birth certificates. Forged certificates and other falsified documents are found out at this stage, when this happens, their recruitment is terminated.

Other processes include writing an examination (aptitude test) and a subsequent interview phase. Candidates who apply with skills in special areas like masonry, plumbing, driving, among others are taken through a Trade test. Trade test basically involves a test regime which seeks to ascertain the veracity of the claims by an applicant to be competent in a given field of specialisation.

The next stage in the mix of recruitment procedures is a thorough Medical examination to check applicants’ health for fitness congruent with the standards of the Ghana Armed Forces.

At this point, qualified personnel are only a letter and prospectus away from being enlisted into the academy, to undergo a six-month training programme.

While some applicants are successful in their quest to join the military, having gone through all the laid-down processes, others fall along the way for a various reasons.

RECRUITMENT ISSUES

As the heat turned up in the Ghanaian capital of Accra one fine Tuesday afternoon, coinciding with the time when long-winding queues characterise recruitment forms sale points for the various security services in 2013, Robert made for the post office and purchased a form for entry into the Ghana Armed Forces.

Like many young men and women at the time, Robert was as enthusiastic to join the force, and selected the Volta Region as his choice for screening, following which he was posted to the regional capital-Ho.

The body-selection was the least of his worries at that point,as he had his documentation scanned.As butterflies run through his tommy,and his nerves got the better of him,he was inducted into an examination room,where he,together with thousand other potentials to write the exam.

At this point, all they could rely on was hope beyond hope, for a fair result, which effectively would usher them into the next stage.

Days passed, and Robert waited for the call, which never came; apparently, his colleagues had been called and they were progressing through the procedures.That was the end of the road for poor Robert; he would not have the rare opportunity to get enlisted into the service.

He certainly is not alone in this failed attempt, a thousand or so, sadly have this fate befall them. A year on,a group of six high-spirited females who wanted to serve in the army were sacked for having multiple ear piercings,which did not form part of the standards of the Ghana Armed Forces,an Accra-based radio station Joy FM reported in October 2014.

One of the females(name withheld), told Globalnewsreel.com she was dismissed outrightly by the recruiting officers last Thursday, October 23, 2014 at the El Wak stadium in Accra.

According to her, she had gone through all the necessary documentation and body selection process successfully,and was asked to report at the centre,when she realised her name was not on the list of candidates eligible for the aptitude test.

She and about five others were disqualified for the multiple ear piercings they had on both ears, while a few others with stretch marks were also disqualified, the report said.

It is open secret that persons with multiple ear-piercing and tattoos on the bodies as well as those sporting Rasta hair styles, do not qualify to join the army, for obvious reasons, hence the said disqualified females should have known better.

 FRAUDSTERS TAKE ADVANTAGE

The Ghana Armed Forces, over the years has given strict instructions to be followed by the applicants, indicating, the need for candidates to be cautious in order not to fall prey to the activities of fraudsters and corrupt persons.

There have been instances where some applicants have been duped by people who claim to be intermediaries for the recruitment process.While some of these fraudsters get caught up by the law,others are just able sneak their way past unsuspecting and most times, desperate candidates.

On Friday, 21 November, 2014, a combined team from the Defence Intelligence unit and the Military Police, arrested two persons for their involvement in enlistment fraud.The fraudsters, Mr Danso Ernest and Mr Musah Mohamed, both residents of Alajo in Accra, deceived their victim, Mr Manu Victor of Amenity Centre, Burma Camp, that could help him to get enlisted into the Ghana Armed Forces, since he (Manu Victor) was unsuccessful in the just ended recruitment exercise. 

They told their victim that they needed an amount of GHC4000.00 to facilitate the deal, and demanded a down payment of GHC2, 000.00, which the victim paid to them. Believing that the deal was genuine, the victim, out of excitement, shared the information with some friends in the barracks. These friends quickly informed the Military Police about the dubious deal. Mr Manu led the security personnel to arrest the suspects at Alajo in an office belonging to one Alhaji Abass; The Alhaji is described by the suspects as the one who contracted them to look for people interested to join the military.

The suspects admitted collecting the money but disclosed that they were working for Alhaji Abass as an enlistment contractor and that all sums of money received from clients were paid into his account. Alhaji Abass, however, denied the allegation and said he was ready to settle the issue at the police station.

Protocol arrangements are pretty much a part of the enlistment process, but when fraudsters like Mr. Danso Ernest and Mr Musah Mohamed maouver their way into the thick of affairs, when they truly have no direct official connection with same, leaves many prospective recruits exposed to their activities.

Recently,a source (Mattias-not his name) told the writer of this piece,that his dream to get recruited into the Ghana Armed Forces was short-lived,as one Alhaji (name witheld) purporting to be the in-charge of the protocol arrangement and at the presidency, requested a staggering GHC 3,500 before processing him for protocol enlistment.

The man, who bore an Islamic name, claimed to be one of many security details at the flagstaff house and operated from an Alajo office, and claims to have facilitated entry of many people into the force in past years;with some skipping medicals.The source revealed that the deal fell through since he was unable to raise the said amount of money.

Many of these fraudsters get away with such crimes, leaving their victims penny-less and unable to enter the service in the long run.

We can blame the activities of tricksters and frauds to the high heavens, but the desperation of the duped cannot be sidestepped.There needs to be a critical look into the rationale and mindset, with which people crave to join the military.

In October 2013, some forty-two persons were arrested by the Military Police at Burma Camp, having used fraudulent means to get enlisted into the Ghana Armed Forces.The number comprising 29 males and 13 females found their way to the El Wak sports stadium, where genuinely enlisted persons had converged to be conveyed to the Army Recruit Training Center at Shai Hills, to commence their six-month military training.

Preliminary interrogation revealed startling results-none of the suspects had undergone medical examinations or completed the recuitment process, and did not have admission letters.

Hints of a possible bribery to buy their way into the service emerged; a claim all forty-two suspects denied, following which they were handed over to for further investigations.

While the activities of such unscrupulous persons ought to be condemned, more needs to be done in tightening the loose knots in this area if the image of the Ghana Armed Forces is to remain nearly unblemished.

Source: Kingsley.Ruby,Selasie