Thousands of applicants who constitute a backlog of candidates standing by from the 2013 recruitment exercise into the security services are livid that they have been sidelined in the current ongoing recruitment exercise by the various security services.

The shortlisted applicants were waiting for body examination, aptitude test, medical examination and vetting.

That process was stalled due to the government’s directive to put employment into the public sector on hold.

At the time, application forms for recruitment were sold for GH?20, and the security services made tens of thousands of cedis from the sale.

In the ongoing recruitment exercise, application forms cost GH?100.

The backlog of candidates standing by from the 2013 recruitment exercise and who have been sidelined want their monies refunded since fresh recruitment is taking place without reference to them.

Some affected applicants who do not want to be named accused the security agencies of using recruitment to squeeze money from poor unemployed youth.

Ghana National Fire Service

For enlistment into the Ghana National Fire Services in 2013, 6,500 application forms were sold at GH?20 each in the first few days, raising some GH?130,000.

Additional application forms where sold later, but this process, which was halted as a result of a freeze on employment into the public sector, has been abandoned yet the money has not been refunded.

Ghana Immigration Service

Between July 19 and August 15, 2013, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) advertised for prospective applicants to buy forms and submit same to designated EMS post offices across the country.

Thousands of people also bought the forms but the recruitment suffered similar fate.

Even though Immigration Service is said to have also made over GH?60,000 from the same of forms, it has also abandoned the applicants and is planning to start fresh recruitment.

The Deputy Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Fire Service, Billy Anaglate, told The Finder that the money could not be refunded.

According him, the process was abandoned to give fair playing field to all applicants, urging affected applicants who are still not above the required age limit to apply again.

He explained that the fresh application process allows persons who have completed school after 2013 to also apply.

The Head of Public Affairs of the Ghana Immigration Service could not be reached for comments.