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Claim: Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson Dafeamekpor, has published the military service age of 20 countries to support his argument for reviewing Ghana’s army recruitment age.
Verdict: The age range he provided as the minimum and maximum requirement for enlisting into the Nigerian and Tanzanian army is inaccurate.
Full Text
Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson Dafeamekpor, is advocating for a review of the age limit for enrollment in the Ghana army.
The Majority Chief Whip, in a post on X, argued that “in Ghana, we can extend our age limit to say 35 or even 40 years, depending on the medical fitness and non-combatant roles.”
He advanced his argument comparing the age limits of other countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and Oceania.
His post has since attracted over 100 thousand views with nearly 100 comments. The post has also been featured in the news publications of several leading media organisations. These can be found here, here, and here.
DUBAWA Ghana decided to investigate whether the age limits provided by the MP for all 20 countries are accurate.
Verification
Out of the 20 countries Rockson Dafeamekpor listed, we found that he was inaccurate with at least six, including the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, and Australia.
For instance, in the case of the Ivory Coast, the MP stated that the minimum age for both voluntary and compulsory service was 18, while the maximum was 35 years. However, according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the age limit for enrollment into the Ivorian army was 18-25 years old.
According to the CIA, 18-26 is the military service age in the Ivory Coast.
This was similar in the case of Tanzania, where the MP suggested that enrollment was for persons between the ages of 18 and 62. Meanwhile, information from the Tanzania People’s Defence Force indicated the age requirement was between 18 and 25 years old.
Below is a table detailing all nine countries where Rockson Dafeamekpor provided inaccurate age ranges for military enrollment.
Our primary source of information was the defence/military website of the concerned country. However, in situations where it was difficult to navigate their website, such as we encountered with the Ivory Coast and Togo, we relied on information from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
| Country | Rockson Dafeamekpor | Verification (Source) |
| Ivory Coast | 18 for both voluntary & compulsory service. Maximum: 35 years | 18-26 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service for men and women (2023) Source: CIA |
| Nigeria | Varies depending on the intake: 18 years for Regular Recruits (non-tradesmen and women). 22yrs: For Direct Short Service enlistments. Maximum: Varies by role and qualification: 22 years: For Regular Recruits (non-tradesmen and women), 26 years: For Tradesmen and women with specific skills.35yrs: For Direct Short Service commissions | An applicant must not be less than 18 and 22 years for non-tradesmen/women, while tradesmen/women must not be more than 26 years. Source: Nigerian Army For enlistment into the Direct Short Service cadre, the age bracket is 20-32 years. Source: Nigeria Air Force |
| Tanzania | Minimum: 18 yearsMaximum: 62 years | 18-25 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; 6-year commitment (2-year contracts afterwards); selective conscription for 2 years of public service (2024). Source: CIA Any person will be recruited to join the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPF) with the following qualifications: be between 18 and 25 years of age. Source: Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (Content on the website is originally in Swahili but was translated to English with Google) |
| Togo | Minimum: 18 for voluntary enlistment. Maximum: 35 years | 18 years of age for military service for men and women; 24-month service obligation; no conscription (2023) Source: CIA |
| Australia | Minimum: 17 to enlist; 18 to deploy. Applicants can apply from the age of 16.5 years.Maximum: 56 for general enlistment. | To apply for an ADF role, you must be at least 16 years and 6 months of age when applying and 17 on the day you join. However, for ADFA, you only need to be 16 years of age to start your application. The maximum age for recruitment varies by role, and you’ll find details in each job description on this website. As a general rule, you can join the ADF if you are between 3 and 6 years away from the Compulsory retirement age for a specific role. Source: Australian Defence Force – Eligibility The maximum age to join the Australian Army Reserve is 60 years. Source: Australian Defence Force – Help |
Screenshot of the basic requirements to be recruited to the Nigerian military.
Screenshot showing the age requirement for enlistment into the Direct Short Service
According to the CIA, 18 is the minimum age for enlisting in the Togolese army. It did not provide an upper limit for the age.
Conclusion
Although the South Dayi MP was largely accurate with the enlistment age limits of countries he chose to report on, we found contrary information for the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, and Australia.
