Communications Team Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Awal Mohammed, says the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) must take full responsibility for the deadly stampede that occurred during its recruitment exercise at the El-Wak Stadium.
His comment follows the death of six job seekers with several others injured in a stampede at the El-Wak Sports Stadium during the Ghana Armed Forces’ 2025/2026 recruitment exercise, where thousands of applicants rushed for documentation and body screening.
According to him, the tragedy that claimed lives and left many injured was the result of poor planning, late gate opening, and failure by the military to decentralise the screening process despite inviting an overwhelming number of applicants.
Speaking in an interview on Prime Insight on Joy Prime, Mr. Mohammed questioned why the military did not follow established recruitment models that have been used successfully in previous national exercises.
“GAF should benchmark its own processes because this is not the first time the military is recruiting in this country. Have you ever heard someone die out of that? No,” he said.
“That is why I always blame the military and not the civilians. You invited 21,000 people to that venue. People were there from 2 am and 4 am, yet you opened the gate around 7 am or 8 am…., so I think it is the military that is to be held responsible for what had happened,” he added.
He explained that the delayed opening of the gates created panic as exhausted applicants struggled to enter the stadium, forcing some to climb over structures to secure a place in the queue.
Mr. Mohammed drew from his experience as former Head of Public Relations at the Youth Employment Agency, noting that large-scale recruitment exercises must be decentralised to avoid dangerous crowd situations.
“When we opened the portal for Community Police, over 100,000 people applied. After shortlisting, if 50,000 needed body screening, we decentralised it to the district police offices,” he recounted.
“Even in Greater Accra, if 20,000 people apply, you still spread the process at the district level. So why not do the same for 21,000 applicants?”
He further questioned why the military did not relocate the exercise to a larger and safer venue.
“If the numbers are overwhelming, can’t you go to the Black Star Square? It can take even 50,000 people without a stampede. There is enough space for people to move or run if needed,” he argued.
Mr. Mohammed also condemned the conduct of some military personnel after the chaos, alleging that officers used sticks on applicants.