The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has called for the removal of artificial intelligence-based aptitude tests used in the ongoing recruitment into Ghana’s security services, citing challenges faced by many applicants.
According to him, he and other lawmakers in the Minority caucus have received numerous complaints from constituents who were disqualified during the recruitment process after encountering difficulties with the online testing system.
Speaking on the floor of the Parliament of Ghana on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, Mr. Afenyo-Markin urged the government to review the system to make the recruitment process more inclusive, particularly for applicants with limited digital literacy.
“Mr. Speaker, the military did something good. They created a system that allowed people to take the aptitude test directly. If it is possible, the system should be changed to enable our boys and girls who are not educated in ICT to write it manually,” he said.
The Effutu MP noted that many applicants from rural communities struggle to navigate the online testing platform.
“I am for AI. I am for IT. But you cannot suddenly call someone from Pusiga or Bunkurugu who knows nothing about IT and ask them to write an aptitude test using AI. If they don’t have the means, they fail,” he added.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin stressed that the issue should not be politicised, describing it as a systemic challenge that requires urgent attention from the appropriate ministry.
According to him, several applicants are compelled to spend money at internet cafés to complete the tests, only to encounter technical difficulties that prevent them from proceeding.
“I think it is a serious system challenge that the ministry would have to look at properly because it is we, the MPs, who are carrying the burden,” he said.
He therefore appealed to the government to review the current system to ensure that recruitment into the security services remains fair and accessible to all qualified applicants.
