Ghana police recruits face mass expulsion in fake documents row

Several newly recruited police officials in Ghana face expulsion for presenting false academic documents for enlistment into the Ghana Police Service.

Local media report that an estimated 3,000 people will be expelled from various police training schools across the country.

“I will confirm the fact that indeed some police recruits are going to be expelled from the training school. This is because they were found to have presented false documents,” the Ghana police spokesperson, Superintendent Cephas Arthur confirmed on Monday to local radio station Citi FM without disclosing the number of people to be affected.

Other reports indicate that 206 recruits have been sacked while others await checks from various certification bodies in the country and vetting by the police crime investigation unit.

The minimum academic requirements are the basic and high school education certificates.

Thousands of people were enlisted into the Ghana Police Service at the end of 2016 raising suspicions that the then ruling party government led by President John Mahama was recruiting party members before leaving office.

A new Inspector General of Police was appointed last month by new President Nana Akufo-Addo after the retirement of the previous police chief.

A senior police officer was sacked last month after two years of investigations into a botched police recruitment scam in 2015 when hundreds of people were given fake recruitment letters into the Ghana Police Service.