Ghana Immigration Service launches GH¢107m strategic plan
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) on Tuesday launched a four-year strategic plan to manage migration issues in a more comprehensive manner.
It is based on four major objectives, including managing migration in the national interest by facilitating border crossings of legitimate travelers at authorised routes.
The plan is estimated to cost GH¢107 million, and would also help prevent irregular migration by deterring border crossings at unauthorised routes.
It would contribute to national security by tackling immigration crime and working with other States to improve the quality of operations on international matters such as piracy, human trafficking, supply of narcotic drugs and issues on common land borders.
Mr Kobby Acheampong, Deputy Minister of the Interior, who launched the plan, pointed out that its vision should be to derive maximum benefit from migration.
“International migration is now an established feature of contemporary social and economic life with both positive and negative manifestations,” he said.
The Deputy Minister said GIS was well placed and had a responsibility to create the conditions which were required for investments to flourish, foreigners and Ghanaians to feel safe, rights to be respected and speedy processes to be designed that would not clog the wheel of Government’s developmental agenda.
Mr Acheampong said Ghana was becoming an increasingly desirable destination for investment, tourism and travel and noted that migration challenges were becoming more complex, which demanded proactive strategies to build capacities and capabilities.
He urged the management of GIS to communicate the plan effectively to its staff to enable them to buy-in and feel part of the entire plan, explaining that this would give migration management the needed boost and make the plan more successful.
Dr Peter Wiredu, Director of Immigration, said international migration had come to the forefront of Ghana’s developmental agenda as its impact was increasingly felt in the social, economic and political spheres.
He noted that formulating a strategic plan at this stage of the country’s development was a logical and extremely important step to enable the GIS to prioritise and effectively carry out its mission and vision, while evaluating its performance against the objectives laid out in the plan.
Mr Wiredu said, “There is no guarantee of attaining goals that are never set”.
He mentioned human resources, policy framework, information, facilities and equipment, collaboration and funding as five factors that were crucial for achieving the plan.
Expressing certainty, Mr Wiredu said 2015 would see a transformed, more vibrant GIS with enhanced strategic and operational efficiency levels which would be the pride of all Ghanaians and the envy of foreigners who traversed the shores and borders of Ghana.
Dr Peter Quartey, Deputy Head of Centre for Migration Studies, expressed happiness about the plan and how timely it was for the GIS to launch the document.
He said Ghana lacked a comprehensive migration policy but explained, however, that the plan outlined the need for such.
Source: GNA
DIDN’T ELABORATE WHAT 107M IS FOR AND IT WILL BE A WASTE TO THROW MONEY ON A SYSTEM THAT IS COMPLETELY BAD ALREADY. EQUIPMENT, BEST INTERNATIONAL TRAINING, BETTER SECURITY AND COMMUNICATION NETWORK, FINGER PRINT TECHNOLOGY, BETTER DATABASE SYSTEM IS MUCH NEEDED NOT SINGING TUNES WITH NO ACTION. PROPER IDING, BETTER COMPUTERIZED RECORD MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY REGARDLESS WHERE ONE CROSSES EVEN IN THE BUSHES.
FOREIGNERS ARE USING GHANAIANS BEHIND THE COUNTER TO DO BUSINESSES WITHOUT PAYING TAXES AS WELL AS SPLITTING THE PROFITS. ONCE ANY FOREIGNER ENTERS A COUNTRY HE OR SHE IS IDED AND HIS OR HER STAY ADDRESS AND INFORMATION IS DATABASED. FROM TIME TO TIME IMMIGRATION DO VERIFICATION THEIR WHEREABOUT AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING. GHANA DOESN’T EVEN HAVE ADDRESS SYSTEM. AGAIN THE COUNTRY’S BORDERS ARE OPEN EVEN THROUGH THE BUSHES AND WALK PATH.
IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT MORE THAN FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE LAUNCH OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN, OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE SERVICE DO NOT HAVE COPIES TO APPRECIATE WHAT IT ENTAILS AND LET ALONE BUY INTO THE IDEALS OF THE PLAN.THIS IS CERTAINLY A RECIPE FOR FAILURE . THERE IS DESPONDENCY AMONG STAFF AND NOBODY SEEM TO KNOW THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THE SERVICE IS GOING.LET US TRY TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND PROVIDE THE NECESSARY MOTIVATION FOR THE OFFICERS TO CONTRIBUTE THEIR QUOTA FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE PLAN.I HOPE SOMEBODY IS LISTENING.