Immigration Recruitment Process Is So 'Cruel' - Dr. Otchere-Ankrah

Governance Lecturer at the Central University, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, has expressed disgust at the treatment meted out to some Ghanaian youth who trooped to the security agencies for enlistment.

In July this year, thousands of young Ghanaians besieged the El-wak Sports Stadium joining a long queue starting at dawn in hopes to be recruited into the Ghana Armed Forces.

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) recruitment beginning on Monday, October 25, 2021 also saw in attendance thousands thronging the various Regional centers.

The recruitment process involved body selection and document authentication before the applicants could qualify to the next phases of the process.

The huge numbers have brought into view the worrying rate of unemployment in Ghana.

Discussing the issue on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah described the recruitment process as cruel.

He was worried about the number of hours that the applicants were made to stand in a long queue and the qualification criteria among other reasons for which some of the applicants were turned down.

''The process of recruiting them is cruel. So, are we still not civilized yet? You want to recruit people and you let them stand on their feet (for hours), what if someone faints?'' he questioned.

He, however, on solving unemployment in the nation, advised the youth to develop interest in technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills so as to avoid crowding up for government and white-collar jobs.

He noted that the youth of today are so engrossed in finding white-collar jobs and opportunities in the public sector which is already choked when what they have to be doing is creating businesses for themselves.

Noting down the challenges involved in creating business, Dr. Otchere-Ankrah strongly opined that many of the youth will become self-employed should they ''think outside the box'' by becoming entrepreneurs.