The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), in efforts to regulate illegal entry through the country’s porous borders, has doubled its staffing strength.
The service, which previously recruited below 300 people, is now said to be recruiting about 1,000 people.
Speaking in an interview with the Head of Public Affairs for GIS, Superintendent Michael Amoako-Atta, he mentioned that more officers had been deployed to patrol the country’s borders.
“Because we complain about how porous our borders are, our recruitment levels over the years have been going up from an initial 200 to 300, and now we can recruit about 1,000 to 2,000 to revamp the service. Recently, there was news circulating that we’ve been given clearance to recruit 2,000 people for this year alone, so we’re waiting for confirmation,” he further added.
He went on to say that the deployment had led to the interception of volumes of marijuana and other substances that people wanted to smuggle out of the country. “We recently decorated some officers who intercepted volumes of marijuana and other substances that people wanted to smuggle out of the country.”
Decentralisation
The Head of Public Affairs for GIS indicated that his outfit had decentralised some of its functions that were at headquarters to the various regions, stressing that GIS had opened up more sector commands and offices with public relation officers at other regions to feed the public with information.
“We’ve set up a protocol and events unit, among others; so, we are now opening up regionally to be more effective so the headquarters won’t be overburdened,” he noted.
Visa issuance
According to Superintendent Amoako-Atta, the GIS will soon take over consular services in Ghana’s missions abroad to vet and issue visas to foreigners as mandated by law.
He further said that, “So now an immigration officer will be at Ghana’s mission in New York and be vetting visa application forms and issue visas. In the promulgation of the Immigration Service Act 908 (2016), officers are to take over consular services in Ghana’s missions abroad, and as we speak, preparations are ongoing to bring the implementation into being; we aren’t certain when it’ll be implemented.”
Permission
The Head of Public Affairs for GIS told The Finder that his outfit had been permitted by the United Nations to wield weapons at the country’s borders.
He intimated that the service had also extended its functions by helping the Police Service to provide internal security. “When it comes to internal security, we’re strongly partnering with the police and military; now every operation in Ghana here you find a contingent of GIS supporting, and it’s a great achievement under this current administration led by the Comptroller-General, Kwame Asuah-Takyi.”
Welfare improvement
He stated that the Comptroller-General had ensured the improvement of the working condition of officers upon assumption of office, with some residential and office accommodations built across the country.
Superintendent Amoako-Atta further stressed that, “Currently, under the leadership of our Comptroller-General, a lot has been happening within the past four years. When he assumed office in 2017, one of his key policy guidelines was to better the working conditions of officers so he went on a tour of the various commands of the service, and for the Northern Region like this, he has been there three times visiting every border.
“Infrastructure was one of his major targets so now some residential and office accommodations have been built across the country and there has been a provision of vehicles for command and operational use.”
Source: John APPIAH || The Finder, Accra
