Even though the NDC government put a freeze on recruitments into the various security agencies including the Armed Forces, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and the Police Service, information indicates that the directive was totally ignored by then Minister of Interior, Cletus Avoka.
Avoka, who has lost the Interior portfolio following a major reshuffle this year, documents showed disregarding the executive caveat and exploited his supervisory role over the security agencies, as Minister of Interior to facilitate the recruitment into the GIS with a list of ninety four (94) persons, majority of whom are indigenes of Northern Region Bawku and its environs including Zebilla, his own home town in the Upper East region.
Investigations uncovered that the former Interior Minister drove personally to the Northern Region with two buses that took the 94 people, also known as intake 17 and brought them deep in the night to the GIS training school at Assin Fosu in the Central region. The recruits’ were accompanied by then Interior Minister Avoka, arrived at the training school around in the night.
The Avoka recruits endured three months of intensive training at the Assin Fosu base. A list titled Recruitment Intake Seventeen (17) for Asutsuare which has been intercepted by has the names and telephone numbers of all the 94 recruits. After the Assin Fosu training, the recruits were expected to join the second batch of the Commando recruits currently undergoing military exercise at the Asutsuare Training camp in the Eastern Region.
Avoka when interviewed told on telephone by William Beeko, the deputy News Editor said it was too early to comment on the subject. Some of the names of the 94 new recruits included, Alhassan Abdul-Rauf Zebilla, Alole Robert Azebeogo, Ahmed Mugeeba Zebilla, Seidu Issahaku Adambilla, Iddrisu Sanfo Amina, Mahama Ishmael Ada, Bawa Solomon, Mohammed Fati and Isaac A. Akurugu. Others are Azaaba Clement A. Zebilla, Ayamba Timothy, Lamin Seidu, Abubakari Adama Zongo, Abiba Talata and Ali Salifu among others.
The recruitment of the 94 persons, which took place around October was not only secretly done by the former Interior Minister, but was also rushed through to avoid detection by the ordinary staff of the GIS. As a result, Avoka ensured that his 94 persons were not taken through the due process because they were his special people. Avoka, according to information, exerted a lot of pressure on the authorities of GIS to make sure that they complied with his orders of recruiting his 94 persons into the GIS.
It also came out that some of these people were already employed and working but were still willing to be recruited.The GIS boss, Mrs. Adjei stated that the so-called Intake 17 was nothing to write about as they were neither verified nor checked by the GIS authorities. It was discovered that some of them could not even speak good English.
FRANCIS TAWIAH (Duisburg – Germany)