President John Dramani Mahama has defended Ghana’s digitalised security services recruitment process, arguing the technology was deliberately chosen to remove human bias from a system long suspected of rewarding personal connections over merit.
Speaking to the Ghanaian community in Philadelphia on Thursday, March 26, the President said the use of technology was intended to address longstanding public concerns that recruitment into the security agencies was often influenced by personal connections.
“There have been a lot of complaints that people get recruited based on who they know. This was an attempt to use digitalisation to sort through the first wave of applications. The computer doesn’t know who you are. The intent was in good faith, but the response was overwhelming,” he stated.
The President noted that the recruitment exercise attracted an overwhelming response, with about 500,000 vouchers sold against an initial plan to consider only 5,000 candidates.
President Mahama maintained that the digital approach marked a significant step towards eliminating human interference and reducing the potential for bias in the recruitment process.
The remarks come weeks after Mahama ordered an expansion of the exercise, doubling the target intake from 20,000 to 40,000 personnel over a four-year period, following widespread criticism over the handling of the original exercise.
During the same Philadelphia engagement, President Mahama also addressed the controversy surrounding Lincoln University in the United States, which recently withdrew plans to confer an honorary doctorate on him. He stressed that the institution continues to hold deep historical significance for Ghana due to its association with the country’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
