The Ministry of Defence has uncovered 210 unqualified candidates in recent admissions to the Ghana Military Academy and plans to cancel the intake entirely ahead of a new nationwide recruitment exercise in August 2025.
Addressing a press conference dubbed Government Accountability Series on Monday, July 21, 2025, the Minister of Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, said an audit of Regular Career Courses 64 and 65, along with Short Service Course 62, revealed that 210 out of 452 candidates—representing approximately 46 per cent—did not meet the required eligibility criteria.
Dr Boamah noted that 34 of the affected individuals are currently undergoing training under Course 64 and have been asked to fulfil all outstanding enlistment requirements. Those who fail to do so will be withdrawn from the programme. For Course 65 and Short Service Course 62, where training had not commenced, all affected candidates have been completely removed from the process.
He further disclosed that 2,872 non-officer recruits, who completed all requirements under the last approved enlistment in October 2021—including documentation, medical examinations and vetting—have still not begun training. He explained that the Army Recruits Training School, which has capacity to train between 900 and 1,500 recruits every six months, has not conducted any intake over the past 17 months.
According to Dr Boamah, the prolonged delay means many of these applicants may no longer meet the current medical, fitness, or age requirements. Consequently, that intake has also been cancelled.
A new nationwide recruitment exercise is expected to be launched in August 2025. Dr Boamah announced that a digital enlistment and recruitment portal would be introduced to improve the vetting process and minimise fraud.
He warned the public not to pay anyone for assistance with enlistment into the Ghana Armed Forces. “Joining the Ghana Armed Forces under President Mahama will be based solely on merit, not money,” Dr Boamah stressed.
He urged the public to report any suspected recruitment fraud to the appropriate authorities.
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