A parliamentary committee vice chairman has suggested that the Mahama administration may have unintentionally created unrealistic expectations among young job seekers by linking its 24-hour economy policy to the ongoing security service recruitment drive.
Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, MP for Manhyia South and Vice Chairman of Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislative Committee, told the AM Show that a review of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s 24-hour economy blueprint reveals no explicit provision for the security sector—raising doubts about how the two became intertwined in public perception.
“When I examined the 24-hour economy document, I couldn’t find where the security sector fits in. The policy was introduced after the elections. What we are really looking at is the NDC’s manifesto—the promises they presented to Ghanaian youth,” he explained.
The 24-hour economy was a flagship campaign promise of the NDC ahead of the December 2024 elections. The initiative proposed that businesses and public services operate across three shifts to create more jobs, but many young Ghanaians assumed this would include extensive recruitment into the security services.
This expectation was reinforced by the government’s manifesto pledge to raise the recruitment age limit for security services from 25 to 35 years.
Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, at the launch of the recruitment exercise, announced that graduates would be eligible up to age 30 and craftsmen up to age 35, framing it as a commitment to inclusiveness.
However, the numbers told a different story. The Ghana Immigration Service alone received 180,000 applications, despite having a current strength of just 18,000 officers. Of the nearly 500,000 applicants across all security services, only 105,000 progressed past the aptitude test to the medical screening stage, with just 5,000 ultimately slated for recruitment.
Awuah argued that President John Mahama’s credibility as a former head of state made young Ghanaians take the campaign promises seriously.
“This man had been president before. He’d been thrown out. Now he’s telling you: I’ve been there before, this is possible, I can do it. That’s a legitimate expectation you have created,” he said.
