Mahama increases security services recruitment target from 20,000 to 40,000

President John Dramani Mahama has directed that recruitment into Ghana’s security services be expanded, increasing the number of personnel to be enlisted from 20,000 to 40,000 over a four-year period.

The directive follows a high-level meeting chaired by the president with heads of the country’s security agencies, as well as the Minister for the Interior and the Acting Minister for Defence, to review the ongoing recruitment process.

According to a statement issued on Monday (16 March 2026) by Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the spokesperson to the president and Minister for Government Communications, the decision was taken after the president received a briefing on the current recruitment arrangements.

“The President has directed that the number of men and women to be recruited to the various security agencies should be increased from twenty-thousand (20,000) to forty thousand (40,000) over a four-year period,” the statement said.

The presidency noted that the expansion is intended to strengthen the country’s security architecture by increasing personnel across the various agencies.

President Mahama also instructed the heads of the security services to ensure that the recruitment exercise is conducted with transparency and fairness.

Officials who attended the meeting included the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the President, the Senior Presidential Adviser on Governmental Affairs, the National Security Coordinator, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of Prisons, the Director-General of the Ghana National Fire Service, the Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service, and the Director-General of the Narcotics Control Commission.

The presidency did not immediately indicate when the expanded recruitment programme will commence, but emphasised that the process must adhere strictly to principles of accountability and equal opportunity.