The Center for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA), a Ghanaian non-partisan civil society organisation promoting civic engagement and public sector accountability, has called on the government to abolish application fees charged to young people seeking recruitment into the country’s security services, describing the practice as an unfair financial burden on unemployed youth.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Michael Donyina Mensah, the organisation said requiring applicants to purchase recruitment vouchers before applying to join the security services raise serious ethical and policy concerns.
According to CenPOA, the current recruitment system effectively forces thousands of job-seeking youth to pay money merely for the opportunity to apply for public service jobs – without any guarantee of progressing beyond the initial stage of the selection process.
The practice affects applicants seeking to join agencies such as the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service and Ghana Prisons Service.
CenPOA noted that recruitment into these services attracts hundreds of thousands of applicants each year, with application vouchers in recent cycles priced between GH¢100 and GH¢220.
The group argued that the scale of participation means recruitment exercises generate tens of millions of cedis, yet there has been little public disclosure on how the funds are utilised.
“This lack of transparency risks creating the perception that recruitment exercises are being used to generate revenue from unemployed youth rather than solely to select qualified personnel for national service,” the statement said.
CenPOA further pointed out that even in the private sector, where institutions operate for profit, employers rarely charge applicants to participate in aptitude tests, screening processes or medical examinations before employment.
It warned that the current system risks excluding capable candidates who may not have the financial means to purchase recruitment vouchers, thereby undermining the principle of merit-based recruitment.
The organisation believes the issue presents an opportunity for reform under the “Reset Agenda” being championed by the administration of John Dramani Mahama.
CenPOA, therefore, called on the government to abolish recruitment application fees across the security services to ensure fair and equitable access for all qualified applicants.
As an alternative, the group suggested that the early stages of recruitment, such as online screening and aptitude tests should be conducted free of charge, with administrative costs only introduced after candidates have successfully passed preliminary assessments.
The organisation also urged authorities to provide transparent public accounting of revenues generated from previous recruitment exercises.
“Ghana’s young people should not be required to pay simply for the opportunity to serve their country,” the statement concluded.
