The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has inaugurated a Senior Officers’ Mess in Accra as part of efforts to strengthen staff welfare, improve morale and provide a conducive environment for officers to relax and interact after work.
The facility would provide senior officers with a secure and serene space to unwind, reflect on their duties, hold informal engagements and improve their physical and psychological wellbeing, thereby enhancing their productivity and service delivery.
Addressing officers at the commissioning ceremony in Accra, the Comptroller General of the GIS, Mr Samuel Basintale Amadu, said the project underscored the Service’s commitment to the welfare of its personnel, whose demanding responsibilities required adequate opportunities for rest and recreation.
He explained that although the facility was located within the GIS Centre of Excellence and Barracks, it would serve all senior officers across the country, including regional commanders and officers from various commands.
Mr Amadu said immigration officers worked under immense pressure, often spending long hours making critical operational decisions and undertaking difficult assignments, making it imperative to provide them with facilities that supported their mental and physical wellbeing.
“This is not just a recreational facility. It is an investment in the psychological welfare of our officers because after all the stress of the job, they need a place to refresh, reflect and return to work rejuvenated,” he stated.
He said the Mess would offer officers a befitting venue to host official engagements, interact with colleagues and other security agencies, and hold informal discussions that could improve operational coordination.
Mr Amadu announced that the Service intended to replicate similar facilities across all Regional Commands, assuring Commanders that any region with suitable space would receive the same standard of infrastructure after technical assessment.
He also encouraged officers to make use of the gymnasium at the Centre of Excellence, stressing that physical fitness was critical to the demanding nature of immigration work, which often involved long patrols and operations in difficult terrain.
Touching on recent medical screening conducted for personnel, Mr Amadu expressed concern about the growing prevalence of drug abuse among the youth and called on religious bodies, traditional authorities, educational institutions and local assemblies to intensify public education on the dangers of illicit drugs.
He said the GIS would continue collaborating with the Narcotics Control Commission to combat drug trafficking and raise public awareness, noting that safeguarding the country’s future required a collective effort to protect young people from substance abuse
BY STEPHANIE BIRIKORANG