Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) yesterday inaugurated its Document Fraud Office (DFO) at the Jubilee Park, in Kumasi to serve the middle belts and the five regions in the north.
It is the first Regional DFO, located at the Jubilee Park, to serve the middle belts and the north that relied on the document fraud expertise in Accra for the purpose of verifying the authenticity of documents.
The three offices were renovated by the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) which also provided closed circuit television, toilets and kitchen and internet.
Inaugurating the Office, Deputy Minister for the Interior, Naana Eyiah Quansah, noted that the use of fraudulent documents cut across many fields including migration.
She observed that prospective travelers managed to acquire fraudulent passports, identity cards, among others, to travel across borders for various reasons.
With so many forms of crime, she said, development in modern technology had brought so many benefits to the country and also created opportunity for those who sought to engage in fraudulent activities.
Ms Quansah said it was in view of that the ICMPD decided to renovate the offices to tackle cyber-enabled crimes by assisting the GIS under the Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana Project.
She was optimistic that the office would ensure that users of fraudulent documents would be brought to the barest minimum, and perpetrators arrested and brought to book.
“If Ghana is to maintain its open economy and status as one of the favourable destinations for foreign direct investment, all of us including the government and the wider society must work together to combat fraud and economic crime generally,” she intoned.
She stressed the importance for all and sundry to work together to provide reassurance for both the business community and the wider community “so that everyone can feel secured conducting business and living their lives in the country.”
Mrs Amala Obiokoye-Nwalor, of the Head Office, ICMPD, on her part, mentioned that they strongly believed in the development potentials of migration “if it’s done in humane, orderly and safe manner, which is why supporting the GIS in carrying out its mandate to facilitate the entry and exit of travellers into Ghana and enforce migration laws is of utmost importance to ICMPD.”
According to her, “ensuring document security and combating document fraud is the bedrock of identity management, and an important factor in migration governance because criminals and mischievous elements can hide behind forged or fraudulent acquired documents to carry out nefarious activities.”
She noted that the office had come at an auspicious time in view of the imminent completion of the new Kumasi International Airport “to support GIS operations at the Airport, in the Ashanti Region as whole and the neighboring regions.”
Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, Comptroller-General of Immigration, thanked the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council for releasing the offices, the Denmark Government and ICMPD for the support to renovate the place.
He said officers had been trained to handle cyber-enabled crimes at the office.
Mr Simon Osei Mensah, Ashanti Regional Minister noted that the office had come at the right time to make work easier for the GIS in view of the Kumasi International Airport.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI