Kofi Tonto Criticises Government Over Recruitment Costs, Calls for Refund to Disqualified Applicants

A political aide to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Kofi Tonto, has criticised the government over what he describes as the excessive financial burden placed on young people during a recent recruitment process.

According to him, the government should have ordered a refund for applicants who were disqualified instead of expanding the recruitment process as announced by presidentJohn Dramani Mahama.

Tonto argued that the recruitment exercise has already cost Ghanaian youth huge sums of money, raising concerns about fairness and transparency.

He explained that before the recruitment process ended, applicants collectively spent about GH₵280 million.

Providing a breakdown of the figures, he stated that approximately 506,000 applications were submitted by around348,000 individuals, noting that some applicants submitted multiple applications.

Each application reportedly cost GH₵220, which he said generated approximately GH₵111 million for the recruitment process.

After the initial screening stage, he claimed that about 400,000 applications were disqualified, leaving around 106,000 candidates who have been invited to undergo medical examinations.

Tonto added that the medical screening process costs GH₵1,600 per applicant.

Based on this figure, he stated that the medical stage alone would generate approximately GH₵169 million.

When combined with the earlier application fees, he argued that the total amount paid by applicants could reach about GH₵280 million.

“The youth are paying such huge amounts just to get jobs to do. The government should have taken notice of this,” he said.

Tonto maintained that rather than expanding the recruitment process, the government should prioritise fairness for applicants who were unsuccessful.

“What I suggest is that those who were not picked should be refunded,” he stated.

He further appealed to President Mahama to intervene in the matter.

“The statement he has issued is not enough. We plead with the president to do something about it,” he added.