Civil servant charged over alleged GIS ‘protocol’ recruitment scam

A 48-year-old civil servant has been hauled before an Accra Circuit Court accused of taking GH¢11,200 from a student in a failed bid to secure him a place in the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

Augustina Aboagyewaa Armah has been charged with defrauding by false pretence, contrary to Section 131 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). She pleaded not guilty when she appeared before Circuit Court ‘3’, presided over by Her Honour Susana Eduful.

The court granted her bail in the sum of GH¢20,000 with two sureties. The sureties must be public servants earning not less than GH¢1,500 a month. The case has been adjourned to 2 October 2026.

Prosecutor Inspector Felix Agyei told the court that the complainant, Solomon Asante, is a student living at Teshie, where the accused also resides. In August 2022, Ms Armah is said to have told the complainant’s grandmother that she had access to “protocol slots” for enlistment into the GIS and invited interested persons to approach her.

On the strength of that assurance, the grandmother allegedly introduced her grandson to the accused. The student is said to have subsequently paid a total of GH¢11,200 to Ms Armah, believing it would guarantee him a place in the 2022 GIS recruitment exercise.

However, the prosecutor said the promised enlistment never materialised and repeated efforts by the complainant to either secure his slot or retrieve the money proved futile. He later reported the matter to the police on 18 August 2025.

Inspector Agyei told the court that during investigations, Ms Armah admitted in her cautioned statement that she had received the money but claimed she had passed it on in full to another person. She allegedly failed, however, to provide details that could help police trace the said individual.

She was subsequently charged and arraigned, with the matter expected to continue on the next adjourned date.