The government is considering mandatory drug testing for all persons seeking employment in Ghana’s public sector, following the disqualification of more than 6,000 applicants during this year’s security services recruitment exercise.
Minister for the Interior and Member of Parliament for Asawase, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, said the Ministry of the Interior is preparing an Information Paper for Cabinet on the proposed policy.
He said the move was necessary to prevent the recruitment and training of persons who are already struggling with drug-related challenges.
“Very soon, the Ministry of the Interior will be taking an Information Paper to Cabinet, and one of the things that we are going to do is to ensure that nobody gets into public service until we do a drug test on you,” Mr Muntaka said.
He was speaking at the opening of a newly constructed six-unit first-floor classroom block at Sakafiya Islamic Senior High School.
According to the Minister, more than 100,000 applicants underwent medical examinations during the recent recruitment exercise, with drug testing and mental health assessments introduced alongside the traditional physical and laboratory examinations.
He disclosed that more than 4,000 applicants tested positive for drugs, while about 2,000 others were disqualified on mental health grounds.
Mr Muntaka described the figures as worrying and said the findings had strengthened the case for a broader drug-testing regime for public sector recruitment.
“It is shocking for us this year’s recruitment exercise. When we decided to test for drugs, over 6,000 people were disqualified because they tested positive for one drug or the other,” he said.
He added that without the additional screening, many of the affected applicants could have entered the public service.
The Interior Minister said the problem was not confined to prospective recruits, acknowledging that some personnel already serving in the security services were also facing drug-related challenges.
He said the government was taking steps to help such personnel overcome their difficulties, while stressing that authorities could not knowingly recruit and train additional personnel who were abusing drugs.
“We are not going to be allowing new people to be trained when we know you are already on drugs,” he stated.
Concern over drug abuse in schools
Mr Muntaka also raised concern about the growing presence of drugs in secondary schools, warning that some students had allegedly begun selling substances such as tramadol to their colleagues.
He called on headteachers and school authorities to intensify supervision and pay closer attention to students and activities that could expose young people to drug abuse.
“Today, in some of our secondary schools, some of the students themselves are hiding to sell tramadol and other harmful drugs to their colleagues,” he said.
The Minister cautioned students against peer pressure and claims that substances such as Indian hemp or tramadol could enhance academic performance.
“Drugs destroy you forever,” he warned.
He urged young people facing financial hardship and other socioeconomic difficulties not to lose hope or turn to drugs, reminding them that their present circumstances should not determine their future.
Muntaka recounts humble beginnings
Using his own experience, Mr Muntaka encouraged the students to remain focused on their education despite financial challenges.
He recalled growing up as the son of a ‘kooko’ seller and helping his mother sell items including bananas, groundnuts and mangoes on the streets of Kumasi.
“I am a ‘kooko’ [porridge] seller’s son. My mother was selling ‘kooko’ in our home,” he said.
He said that, given his background, he would not have imagined becoming a Member of Parliament.
“If somebody had told me 40 years ago that one day I could even become a Member of Parliament, I would never have believed it,” he said.
Mr Muntaka urged the students not to allow poverty or family responsibilities to convince them that they had no prospects.
“Don’t let the challenge of today—because your mother is poor, because when you go home, you have to go and help your parents to do one thing or the other—you think that hope is lost. No. There cannot be lost hope,” he said.
New facility opened
The newly constructed six-unit first-floor classroom block at Sakafiya Islamic Senior High School includes an office and a six-seater water closet facility.
Mr Muntaka said investments in educational infrastructure were intended to provide young people with the environment and opportunities needed to become responsible citizens and contribute to national development.
He urged the students to make effective use of the new facility and remain committed to their education.
“Students, all these things that we are doing, all this investment that we are putting in, it is for you to be better citizens than us,” he said.
