Dr Bannor questions Mahama's funding mechanism for 40,000 security recruitment plan; says 'Enough of the phantom promises'

The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Finance and Economy Committee spokesperson, Dr Frank Bannor, has challenged the government to explain how it intends to finance its planned recruitment of 40,000 young Ghanaians into the country’s security services amid mounting pressure on public finances.

Dr Bannor questioned the financial sustainability of President John Dramani Mahama’s recruitment pledge, arguing that the government must demonstrate how it will raise the revenue needed to pay the salaries of the additional personnel without further worsening the country’s debt burden.

“Government can throw about numbers! But how is the government going to raise the much-needed revenue to pay these people?” Dr Bannor asked.

He recalled that in March this year, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson disclosed that the government had borrowed approximately GH¢17 billion to meet public sector salary obligations, raising concerns about the feasibility of expanding the public sector workforce.

“Let me remind you that, in March this year, the government, through the Finance Minister, announced that it had to borrow GH¢17 billion (about $1.5 billion) just to pay salaries! Enough of the phantom promises!” he said.

Dr Bannor’s comments follow President Mahama’s announcement that the government intends to recruit approximately 40,000 young people into the security services between 2025 and 2028 as part of efforts to create employment opportunities.

Speaking at a Resetting Ghana Citizen Engagement town hall meeting in Goaso, the Ahafo Regional capital, the President said 12,000 people had been recruited into the various security agencies in 2025, with further recruitment exercises expected over the next three years.

According to President Mahama, the Ghana Armed Forces had recruited more than 5,000 personnel, while the Ghana Police Service had absorbed approximately 4,000 recruits.

The Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Prisons Service and Ghana National Fire Service had also recruited about 2,000 personnel, he said.

The President explained that recruitment quotas would be increased between 2026 and 2028 to accommodate more qualified applicants, encouraging unsuccessful candidates to take advantage of subsequent opportunities, provided they met the prescribed qualifications and passed the necessary interviews and medical examinations.

However, the proposed expansion has renewed questions about the government’s capacity to sustain its growing wage bill at a time when revenue constraints are limiting spending on other public services.

At a recent Government-Organised Labour Dialogue, Dr Forson disclosed that Ghana generated GH¢183 billion in tax revenue in 2025. Of that amount, GH¢122.1 billion went towards statutory obligations, including transfers to the District Assemblies Common Fund, GETFund, the National Health Insurance Levy and debt servicing.

This left GH¢61.9 billion available for other expenditure, while the public sector wage bill alone stood at GH¢78.9 billion.

The resulting shortfall forced the government to borrow approximately GH¢17 billion to meet salary commitments, according to the Finance Minister.

Dr Forson warned that the combination of public sector wages, debt servicing and statutory transfers was placing severe pressure on government finances, leaving limited room for investment in infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and roads.

TUC challenges government’s position

The Finance Minister’s presentation has, however, drawn criticism from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which argues that public sector workers are being unfairly blamed for the country’s fiscal difficulties.

Dr Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, said the government’s revenue challenges, rather than excessive wages alone, should be at the centre of the debate.

He noted that public sector compensation as a share of Gross Domestic Product had declined from about 11 per cent 15 years ago to 5.64 per cent in 2025, based on figures presented by the Finance Minister.

Dr Otoo also pointed out that organised labour had accepted a 10 per cent base pay increase in 2025 and a nine per cent increase in 2026, despite pressure from members, partly to accommodate the government’s recruitment priorities.

He questioned the consistency of the government’s position, arguing that announcing plans to recruit 40,000 security personnel while highlighting the need to borrow to pay existing workers raised legitimate concerns.

The TUC official called for stronger revenue mobilisation, measures to curb corruption and over-invoicing, and efforts to bring more informal-sector operators into the tax net.

For Dr Bannor, who is a development economist, the central question remains whether the promised recruitment can be supported by a credible financing plan.

With the government already borrowing to meet salary obligations, he insists that Ghanaians deserve more than recruitment figures and assurances: they need a clear explanation of where the money to pay thousands of additional security personnel will come from.