Long queues for GIS recruitment forms

Hundreds of youth mostly unemployed on Monday formed long queues at the premises of the General Post Office in Accra to buy recruitment forms of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

They told the Ghana News Agency that they had been hanging around the post office since last week in order to buy the forms, only to be turned away at the end of each day with the explanation that the forms had finished.

Mr George Wumboribe, an applicant from Nkwanta in the Volta Region, said he arrived at the Post Office at 0400 hours and as at 1200 hours he was still standing in the queue.

Mr Ebenezer Agbeke of Banana Inn, Mamprobi, Accra, urged the GIS to upgrade their mode of recruitment by creating online application forms to enable people to buy vouchers or scratch cards from the post offices or banks to fill the forms online.

Ms Rosemary Akpo of Jamestown in Accra said she had been struggling since last week to buy the forms, adding that: “Today, I got here at 0500 hours and it is just because I have the passion for the job and I want to serve mother Ghana as well”.

Mr Francis Palmdeti, Head of Public Affairs of the GIS, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that, previously their mode of recruitment was for advertisements to be made for people to apply directly, but this came with a lot of inconveniences.

As a result, he said, this year, they decided to give the contract to the Expedited Mail Service (EMS) to sell out the recruitment forms.

He said they had received complaints that the forms were out of supply but only the EMS Authorities would be in a better position to tell why.

“If the forms are there and you don’t release them, you create artificial shortage and people will end up buying them and reselling at higher prices.

“Only 400 applicants will be recruited into the Service this year,” Mr Palmdeti stated.

Mr Ekow Budu Paintsil, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Post Company, said they initially printed out 20,000 forms for sale at GH¢20.00 per form on Monday, July 28 and by the close of work on Tuesday July 29, they (forms) had run out.

He said with the permission of the GIS, the EMS printed an additional 20,000, which they had sent out to all EMS outlets throughout the country; adding that was the last batch of forms to be sold out this year.

Source: GNA