Security Recruitment: I didn’t bribe NDC MPs, I wanted to help get their people in - Henry Quartey

Interior Minister Henry Quartey has admitted approaching minority Members of Parliament regarding the planned recruitment by the security agencies, clarifying that his intention was to assist them in getting their constituents recruited, not to bribe them.

“It was in a closed meeting with Members of Parliament; it wasn’t about going to them one by one and saying, ‘bring them [your constituents], let me recruit them.’ That was not it. After a meeting with the Defence and Interior Committee, and we had agreed on a roadmap, that was when I approached them. I just wanted to help them get their people in as a colleague. I did not bribe them; it was not intended as a bribe,” Henry Quartey told Joy News on Thursday.

The Minister, who has come under intense public scrutiny over his handling of the recruitment process, was responding to allegations of bribery made against him by Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the NDC Chairman.

Mr Asiedu Nketia alleged that Henry Quartey had offered Protocol slots to silence NDC legislators who were opposing the clandestine recruitment of about 10,000 NPP party foot soldiers into various security services, including Immigration, Police, Prisons, and Fire Services.

It will be recalled that in May 2024, Mr Quartey threatened to name opposition lawmakers who had given him names of their constituents for Protocol slots.

“They also come to us, always begging for their people to be recruited. They shouldn’t go down that line. If they dare me, I will mention their names and the people they brought. I’m saying it with authority; if they dare me,” he told Adom FM.

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