Applicants for Ghana’s security services recruitment exercise have raised a fresh and specific complaint: their Centralised Services E-Recruitment Portal (C-SERP) status switched from “Qualified” to “Disqualified” without explanation, triggering a parliamentary demand that the government issue refunds to candidates affected by technical failures in the process.
Two applicants known online as Manymen and Pisces went public under a widely circulated TikTok video, describing how their portal status initially reflected “Qualified” before changing to “Disqualified” in the days that followed. Their accounts prompted a wave of similar complaints from other candidates and drew sharp reactions on social media, with many calling on the Ministry of Interior to provide a formal explanation.
In a separate but related incident, another applicant claimed he was listed as disqualified despite being technically unable to sit the aptitude test because of system failures, a situation he described as deeply unfair given that the disqualification was beyond his control.
The complaints reached Parliament on Tuesday when Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin called on the government to reimburse applicants whose disqualification stemmed from technical difficulties rather than genuine failure to meet recruitment standards. Afenyo-Markin told lawmakers that his caucus had received multiple complaints from constituents and urged the government to review the system, particularly for applicants with limited digital literacy who were forced to pay at internet cafes only to encounter barriers that blocked their progress.
The Ministry of Interior has not yet responded publicly to the specific status reversal complaints. Its official position is that a “Disqualified” status reflects either failure to meet the aptitude test benchmark of 65 percent, a violation of examination rules, or an identity mismatch detected during AI-monitored testing. That explanation, however, does not account for cases where candidates passed the test and saw their status change after the fact.
Applicants who believe their portal status may be vulnerable to future technical changes have been advised by content creators and online guides to screenshot their “Qualified” status immediately upon checking, ensuring identification details are clearly captured as documentary proof. The unofficial workaround reflects the degree to which trust in the portal’s reliability has eroded among the applicant community.
Medical screening is scheduled to begin on Monday, March 16, leaving qualifying applicants just days to resolve any outstanding portal disputes before the next stage of the exercise begins.
