Former Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has expressed deep sorrow over the tragic stampede at the El-Wak Sports Stadium that claimed the lives of six young women during a military recruitment exercise.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, the Bimbilla Member of Parliament revealed that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) plans to recruit only 4,000 people this year, despite receiving over 20,000 applications.
Mr. Nitiwul said he accompanied the Speaker of Parliament to the 37 Military Hospital on Wednesday evening to visit the victims and was heartbroken by what he witnessed.
“I was very sad,” he said. “We have contributed in a small way to the problem, because there are alternatives we could have used to prevent 20,000 to 30,000 people rushing for jobs meant for only 4,000 people.”
He described the situation as a reflection of Ghana’s broader economic challenges, where limited job opportunities push thousands of desperate youth toward any available opening, regardless of the risks involved.
“The figures are frightening, so I don’t want to go into it. But if we had other jobs available and created in the private sector and other areas, some of them wouldn’t have gone there,” he lamented.
Mr. Nitiwul said the tragedy underscores the country’s inability to build a resilient economy that provides diverse employment opportunities. “We haven’t been able to build the economy we all want — one that will not allow people to rush for a single job opportunity,” he stated.
The former minister’s comments add to growing calls for systemic reforms to tackle unemployment and restore hope among Ghana’s jobless youth.
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