Service personnel besiege registration centres
Registration for the 2017/18 national service year began across the country yesterday on a bustling note as hundreds of prospective service personnel thronged the Greater Accra Regional Office of the scheme and other centres to process their documents.
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The month-long registration exercise which is expected to continue until August 24, 2017 will see more than 95,000 service personnel register to be engaged by public and private user agencies.
In the Greater Accra Region, more than 30,000 prospective service personnel are expected to register at designated registration centres, while a similar exercise is being carried out in all the other regional capitals.
By the arrangement of the National Service Scheme (NSS), the prospective service persons are required to commence the registration process by sending their appointment letters to the regional directorates of the scheme to be endorsed by the regional director before they proceed to the districts where they have been posted to complete the registration process.
Atmosphere
The exercise in the Greater Accra Region was characterised by hustles and jostles as a large number of prospective service personnel went through thick and thin to register.
The early bird catches the worm mantra was in full force as some of them reportedly got to the registration centres as early as 3:30a.m. with the hope of registering on the first day.
As of the time the Daily Graphic got to the premises of the Greater Accra Regional directorate of the NSS at about 11:30a.m., a team of security personnel, led by the officer in charge of Operations at the Accra Regional Police Command, Chief Superintendent Kwesi Ofori, was busy managing the crowd and maintaining order.
Long queues had been formed by the personnel, while those who could not find space on the premises stood along the shoulders of the roads leading to the centre in despair.
Security personnel created barricades at the centre to ensure the safety of the registration officers and to maintain order.
Visits
The Executive Director of NSS, Mr Ussif Mustapha, and some management staff of the scheme visited some of the centres in Accra to be sure that the exercise went on well.
He visited the Greater Accra NSS office where service personnel who had been posted to the Accra metropolis, Ga South, Ga West and Ga Central districts were going through the registration process.
After interacting with the crowd of prospective service persons and the registration officers, Mr Mustapha continued to the Ghana Military Police Club House 77 Centre at the El Wak Stadium, where registration was ongoing for the Ledzokuku Krowor and La Dade Kotopon municipalities.
Diligence
Mr Mustapha expressed satisfaction about the registration process and assured the public that no stone would be left unturned to ensure that all challenges that might arise in the process of registration were properly managed.
“Many people have raised concerns with the inconveniences that come with the huge numbers that gathered for the registration exercise today. What we need to consider is the fact that there are more people for this year’s national service than last year.
“I will advise that the exercise will be ongoing for one month so there is no need for prospective service persons to be in a haste to register on the first day at all cost.
Let us all remain calm and follow the procedure for registration in a diligent manner,” he said.