A polished CV can open an office door. A recommendation can secure a place in a classroom. A reassuring interview can give someone access to a home, a child or a company’s finances. But how much do these assurances tell us about the person receiving that trust?
Recent Ghanaian reports of sexual abuse in schools, employee fraud in banks, the killing of a university law lecturer in which a household worker was implicated, and alleged theft by people entrusted with protecting their employers have brought this question into sharp focus. Recruitment is more than filling a vacancy. It is a decision about who gains access to people, money, information and responsibility.
Warren Buffett is widely credited with emphasising three qualities in hiring: intelligence, energy and integrity. The familiar quotation warns that, without integrity, intelligence and energy can be destructive.
Many hiring processes give considerable weight to competence and experience while treating integrity as something to be inferred from a CV, interview or recommendation. OSG’s position is clear: integrity should not be presumed. For sensitive appointments, employers should use lawful, role-appropriate due diligence background checks and support them with clear standards, supervision and accountability. No screening process can guarantee future conduct, but responsible verification can reduce avoidable uncertainty. Trust deserves evidence.
The warning signs in our schools
Let this data sink in: DOVVSU records more than 15,000 cases of sexual and gender-based violence annually, indicating 40 cases daily (UNICEF, 2020). Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, GDHS (2022) reports 10.3% women aged 10-19 experience forced sex with age 15 being the highest-risk age.
On October 14, 2026, the Ghana Education Service interdicted the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School pending investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct involving 19 students. Interdiction is an administrative measure, not a conviction; the allegations must be investigated fairly.
The report raises urgent safeguarding questions.
Other cases have reached a verdict. In July 2026, the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court sentenced teacher Hondana Mensah to 12 years’ imprisonment for defiling a 12-year-old pupil during private lessons, a reminder that the duty to protect children extends into the family home.
A JoyNews Research review published on 15 October reportedly tracked at least 44 cases of teachers and school heads accused of sexually abusing students since January 2015. These are reported cases, not convictions, but they show a concern that has persisted for more than a decade.
The question is whether institutions have reliable systems to verify staff histories, recognise boundary violations, receive complaints safely and act promptly. A teacher’s qualifications may demonstrate training; years of service may demonstrate experience. Neither, on its own, establishes whether that teacher will act safely and responsibly when supervising a child.
Financial trust requires more than qualifications
An impressive qualification does not establish how someone will handle access to customer accounts, payment approvals or confidential records.
Citi Newsroom’s July 2026 account of the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 Fraud Report stated that 219 employees of banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions were implicated in fraud, down from 365 in 2024. The decline is welcome, but staff involvement remains a serious concern.
This illustrates the risk that Buffett’s observation points to: an employee who understands a system and has extensive success may well be placed to exploit weaknesses in its controls. Competence without integrity can increase the potential harm, which is why controls must not depend solely on an employee’s reputation or perceived trustworthiness.
Systematic, evidence-based due diligence can help identify false qualifications, relevant recorded misconduct and misrepresented employment histories. Its scope should be lawful and proportionate to the role it must operate alongside segregation of duties, access controls, traction monitoring and independent audits. A well-screened employee should never become one whom nobody supervises.
The home is also a place of responsibility
Families make equally consequential decisions when engaging nannies, carers, drivers, tutors, domestic workers and security personnel, roles that often bring unsupervised access to children, elderly relatives, keys and private information.
Ghana has seen how grave that exposure can be. In September 2020, Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh, a former University of Ghana law lecturer, was killed at his home in Agyiringanor, East Legon. The house cleaner, James Nana Womba, was identified as a prime suspect and reportedly confessed and named an accomplice, but died in police custody weeks later and never stood trial. In March 2024, the Accra High Court sentenced the accomplice, Ebenezer Kwayisi, to 30 years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to abetment to manslaughter.
Whatever was or was not known about Womba before he was hired, the case is a painful reminder that domestic staff may be entrusted with family’s safety, not merely access to its home. In January 2026, the Ghana News Agency also reported that a security guard had been remanded over the alleged theft of GH¢200,000 from his employer.
A personal introduction or agency placement should begin verification, not end it. Families should establish identity, verify relevant employment history and speak directly with credible former employers where appropriate. A sincere recommender may know little about a candidate’s conduct or history, and reference should be considered alongside other evidence rather than treated as guarantees.
Beyond the CV and the Police Certificate
A CV is an applicant’s account of their experience. A reference reflects what one person knows and is prepared to disclose. A criminal-record check reveals only the records covered by the search and available through the relevant system; it cannot certify character or predict future conduct.
Interviews and certificates can assess knowledge, qualifications and experience but they are limited indicators of integrity. The absence of a recorded conviction does not establish a person’s character; it only means that the check did not identify a conviction within the records and scope searched.
Employers and households should ask: Do we know who we are hiring, or only what they have chosen to tell us? What relevant evidence supports our decision? What safeguards will remain in place after the appointment?
OSG advocates evidence-based due diligence: gathering relevant information lawfully, checking it against independent sources, resolving discrepancies and assessing what the evidence means for the role.
Depending on the position, this may include verification of identity, qualifications, employment history and professional standing, criminal or litigation records, substantive reference enquiries, role-related skills or behavioural and integrity assessment. The aim is to assess suitability responsibly.
Verification must continue after appointment
Integrity is not a certificate issued once at recruitment. Circumstances change, pressures build and access grows. Promotions or new responsibilities may justify further checks. Ongoing oversight should also address compliance with duties, conflicts of interest, conduct concerns and the effectiveness of controls.
In schools, this means clear professional boundaries, safe reporting channels and independent escalation when a complaint concerns a senior official. In banks, it means reviewing access and investigating irregularities. In homes, it means appropriate supervision and listening to children. Employers using outsourced staff should know what the agency checked, when it checked it and what evidence supports its assurances.
Fairness makes screening stronger
Screening must be accurate, proportionate and consistent with Ghana’s Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and any other applicable law. Employers should identify and document the lawful basis for each check, explain the process, obtain consent where required, protect records and give candidates an opportunity to address discrepancies.
Rumour must never become a finding. An arrest is not a conviction, and financial difficulty does not establish dishonesty. Checks can also be incomplete or inaccurate. No screening process can guarantee future behaviour: verification may reduce avoidable uncertainty, while supervision and accountability address risks that emerge later.
A national conversation about responsible trust
For a child subjected to abuse, the harm may be profound and enduring. For an organisation, failures can affect staff livelihoods, customer confidence and everyone who depends on its services.
OSG calls on boards, school proprietors, human resource leaders, recruitment agencies and households to make role-appropriate due diligence part of responsible employment practice. Budget for verification. Document decisions. Review sensitive appointments. Establish safe report channels, respond to credible concerns and maintain effective supervision.
Before handing someone the keys to an office, access to an account or responsibility for a child, ask one essential question: What evidence supports the trust we are about to place in this person?
By Awo Zuta