Just last Tuesday, we were celebrating Ghana’s progress in workplace safety with the launch of the National Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Policy, a landmark initiative aimed at creating safer, healthier working conditions across the country. It felt like a step forward, a promise of protection for every worker.
But barely 24 hours later, on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, news broke of a devastating stampede at a Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) recruitment exercise at El-Wak Sports Stadium in Accra, six young lives were lost, and many others remain hospitalized, some fighting for survival at the 37 Military Hospital. These were young men and women chasing a dream, a chance to serve their country and secure a livelihood. Instead, their pursuit ended in tragedy.
Reports indicate that an unexpected surge of applicants breached security protocols, rushing the gates ahead of the scheduled screening. Thousands gathered, moved by hope and the desire to escape the harsh reality of soaring youth unemployment in Ghana. But that shared desperation took a tragic turn.
Image Source: 3FM
This raises painful questions:
- With youth unemployment at alarming levels and such overwhelming public interest expected, should authorities have foreseen the risks?
- Why wasn’t the interview process organized in batches to manage the numbers safely?
- Why not modernize or digitize the recruitment process to avoid such risks?
These were preventable deaths. No one should lose their life in search of employment, ever. In an era of advanced technology and digital solutions, this tragedy is not just heartbreaking; it’s unacceptable.
So, who do we hold accountable? Who answers to the families left broken?
And most importantly, how do we ensure this never happens again, in Ghana or anywhere else?
While it may be easy to point fingers in the search for accountability, we at KUSI Consulting believe this moment calls for shared responsibility. We have so much work to do, as a nation, as HR professionals, as industry leaders, as government, as academia, and as a community. This isn’t the government’s burden alone, it’s ours collectively.
Let’s turn this pain into action.
KUSI Consulting is a global 360 Human Resource Management company headquartered in Ghana and New York. We leverage technology to support small, medium, and large organizations in meeting their workforce demands and advancing human capital development. In addition to our core HR services, we offer digital marketing, branding, and website development solutions to help businesses grow and thrive in a competitive landscape.
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Resources on the tragedy
- BBC News: Stampede at military recruitment in Ghana
- GhanaWeb: Social media reacts to deadly stampede at military recruitment exercise
- GhanaWeb: Six reported dead over stampede during military recruitment exercise
- ABC News: Six people die in stampede at military recruitment in Ghana
- GhanaWeb: GAF gives details of stampede which led to the death of six people
