Martin Amidu says President John Dramani Mahama must discontinue what he calls “self-praise” and reject the “sycophancy and adulation” being projected around public sector recruitment.
The Former Attorney General and Special Prosecutor says security-sector recruitment processes advertised as merit-based are routinely manipulated behind the scenes.
“Every honest person who has served this nation with integrity knows and will admit that the appearance of meritorious recruitment is a sham,” he insisted.
He argued that security agencies often conduct two processes simultaneously, a public, merit-based exercise and a concealed protocol system reserved for political elites.
“These recruitments are usually a smokescreen behind which the security services engage in protocol recruitments,” he said, adding that politicians are “allocated quotas of people to submit quietly for the real recruitment behind the curtain.”
Amidu cited personal examples from his tenure as Minister for the Interior in 2010. He said he was invited to submit names for recruitment slots but refused.
“What happens to those who have no connections to facilitate protocol enlistment?” he questioned. He added that accepting such quotas would have undermined his ability to ensure that agencies did not fill the remaining slots with their own preferred candidates.
The former AG referenced a similar attempt by officials from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, who allegedly came to offer him recruitment quotas under the NYEP.
“I asked the Acting Chief Director to walk them out of my office,” he said.
Amidu believes public narratives about integrity in recruitment do not match the reality. He argued that corruption persists while officials create an illusion of fairness.
“I am speaking out because of the spinning surrounding the fight against corruption and looting,” Amidu noted, insisting that leaders publicly preach meritocracy while privately facilitating systemic abuse.
He criticised President Mahama’s comments defending the recent GAF recruitment exercise, saying the messaging contradicts what he describes as entrenched practices in the security sector.
“Recruitments are on merit, as the President told the audience in Twi,” he said, “but patriotic citizens know these exercises have been opportunities for corruption year in, year out.”
