The Speaker of Parliament, Albana Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, is calling for a continuous process of enlistment and recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
According to him, the current system of annual or biennial recruitment and enlistment results in the accumulation of potential personnel, which comes with its security issues.
“What prevents this country from having a continuous recruitment or enlistment process? We don’t have to wait and do it once every year or sometimes two years, so that you can accumulate so many people and they have to rush to try and get recognition and end up not leaving,” Speaker Bagbin lamented.
He made these remarks on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, 12 November 2025, after news broke of the unfortunate tragedy at the screening process by the GAF at the Elwak Sports Stadium in Accra.
Thousands of people had thronged the ElWak Stadium on Wednesday to undergo the body selection process for recruitment into the GAF.
Speaker Bagbin, who recalled he once went through such a process but failed, added his voice to commentary on statements made by the Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annor Dompreh; the Acting Minister for Defence, Cassiel Ato Forson and Eric Edem Agbana, MP for Ketu North, on the incident.
OPPORTUNITY
He acknowledged that the serious challenge confronts the nation with regards to the process of enlistment, recruitment, and employment in the public service, adding that the El-Wak incident offered “an opportunity for us to rethink about the whole process…”
Peter Toobu Lanchene, MP, Wa West, commenting on the statement, referenced the recruitment process of the Ghana Police Service and recommended it to the GAF.
He stated that the last police recruitment handled 4,000 people in a single day, preventing overcrowding and maintaining orderliness.
“How was it happening? At 6 o’clock 500 people were invited; at 8 o’clock in the morning another 500. Within a two-hour interval, people were invited on a daily basis. Gradually you can deal with 2,000 people in the day without seeing a crowd.
He continued that “These are all best practices that we need to learn, and with the inclusion of technology, I am quite sure this is not a very difficult thing to do.
“We are all surprised that the crowd surged and became very violent, to the point that they lost control and we lost these six people.”
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament has directed the Committee on Defence to look into the matter and report to the House.
The leadership of Parliament, led by the Speaker, moved to the 37 Military Hospital to visit those on admission.
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