Security service recruitment: Over 6,000 applicants disqualified over drug and mental health issues.

Over 6,000 applicants have been disqualified from the medical screening stage of the ongoing security services recruitment exercise after testing positive for drug use or being diagnosed with mental health conditions.

Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak disclosed this in an interview with Accra-based Pan African TV, noting that more than 100,000 applicants underwent medical examinations as part of the nationwide recruitment process.

He explained that in addition to standard physical and laboratory tests, the ministry introduced drug screening and mental health assessments due to growing concerns about the psychological fitness of personnel entering the security services.

According to him, more than 4,000 applicants failed the drug test, while an additional 2,000 were disqualified after being found unfit on mental health grounds.

“We have over 100,000 people who went through the medicals. Because of the large numbers, and because of what we have observed within the services, we introduced additional checks including mental health assessments and drug tests.

Interestingly, over 4,000 people failed the drug test, and we have over 2,000 who also failed due to mental health conditions,” he stated.

Hon.Muntaka stressed that the results underline the need for stricter and more thorough recruitment procedures to ensure that only qualified, physically fit, and mentally sound individuals are enlisted into the country’s security services.