The Minister-designate for The Interior, Henry Quartey, has cautioned immigration personnel against the practice of escorting their families and associates through security check points at the Kotoka International Airport.
He said certain personnel, sometimes off-duty or stationed outside Accra, assist their family and friends through immigration processes, thereby jeopardising the laid down travel procedures.
Addressing management and staff of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) at its Head Office in Accra yesterday, the Minister stated that any personnel caught engaging in such unprofessional conduct would face disciplinary action.
Mr Quartey further underlined that personnel involved in this practice, especially those who go to the extent of carrying the luggage of their associates could be arrested as accomplice if contraband items were found in such bags.
Accompanied by a delegation from the Ministry, the Minister was at the GIS to acquaint himself with the Service operations and the situation on the ground as part of preparations for the general elections.
With barely eight months to the elections, Mr Quartey also cautioned the personnel against partisan politics, urging them to act professionally at all times with the interest of the country at heart.
Despite these two professional and ethical issues, he said the performance of the Service surpassed their lapses, and therefore commended and urged them to continue the good works.
On the issue of resourcing the service, he noted that the government was aware of the challenges faced by the Service in the area of logistics, office and residential accommodation, and assured the personnel of the government’s commitment to finding reasonable and realistic means of solving them.
“Ghana Immigration Service plays a key role in national security, trade and investment facilitation, tourism and national development, and therefore needs constant retooling to enable them to execute their mandate effectively thereby preventing any breach of Ghana’s borders,” he emphasised.
Mr Quartey again said the government had shown its commitment to retooling the service and protect Ghana’s territorial borders, with the recruited of more than 9, 400 personnel from 2017-2023 to boost the human resources of the Service.
Moreover, he said currently, the Service has been provided with over 360 vehicles and over 250 motorbikes with infrastructural development, including 11 Office accommodations, five Housing projects, training schools and 14 check points.
Earlier, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kwame Asuah Takyi, in his welcome address, said immigration personnel were equal to the task of protecting the country’s borders and undertaking their mandate.
However, he said, they would need retooling to be able to work to their maximum potential and while thanking the government for efforts made over the years in the provision of resources, he appealed for more.
As part of efforts to prevent irregular migration into the country through illegal routes, he said more check points were being created in all operational offices of the service.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
