The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has held a stakeholder consultative session with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the Attorney General's Office, the Boundary Commission, among sister security services on strengthening border and migration management in Ghana.
According to the GIS, the objective of consultative session is to accept inputs and finalise a strategic plan as an institutional document.
The GIS also noted that it will guide the aspirations of the Service in line with its mandate to improve Border Security and Migration Management in Ghana.
Addressing the gathering, Comptroller-General of GIS, Mr. Takyi said "This Stakeholder Consultative Forum is an opportunity to get together and discuss issues of common interest regarding the seven-year (2023-2029) Strategic Plan of the Service"
"This is an opportunity for dialogue, for you to have a better understanding of our vision, mission, and strategic objectives, and for us to solicit for your inputs, note your suggestions and opinions, and adopt them, where necessary"
Mr. Takyi thanked the International Centre for Migration Policy Development for facilitating the development of the new Strategic Plan (2023-2029) under the “Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana” (SMMIG) Project, which is funded by the Government of Denmark.
"My special appreciation and sincere thanks to the Technical Working Group and the Consultant. Thank you for bringing your expertise and experience and engaging in a series of fruitful, constructive, and open exchange meetings and also to the GIS National Management Members, Regional Commanders who solicited inputs from the Districts and Sector Commands as well as Department, Sectional and Unit Heads, to come out with the first draft of the Strategic Plan"
He stressed that the Ghana Immigration Service is committed to stakeholder engagement as a continuous and step-by-step process.
"We want to share with you what our aspirations are for the next seven years. We want to listen to your ideas.
At this meeting, through active participation, I do expect that we would respect each other’s opinions and viewpoints"
"It might be difficult to have absolute agreement on all issues, but we can make the greatest effort in trying to ensure that key concerns and important suggestions are documented and considered in the finalisation of the Strategic Plan"
On his part, Senior Maritime Security Programme Officer, Danish Embassy, Joel Johnson said "The Embassy would like to, first and foremost, commend the efforts and contributions made by all partners, both national and international, towards the development of this strategic document, which would guide the operations of the GIS in coming years"
"We would also like to express our appreciation to our implementing partner, the ICMPD, and the Ghana Immigration Service for setting and maintaining the pace in the development of this document through an active engagement of all stakeholders."
He reminded the gathering of how Denmark places great importance on effective border and migration management.
He added that the Embassy was therefore pleased to be supporting Ghana in this sector under its current project, “Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana”.
"Indeed, within the framework of the said project, Denmark is not only supporting the development of the GIS Strategic Plan, but also the building of the capacities of GIS officers to successfully detect, investigate and prosecute document fraud and other migration related offences"
"Furthermore, in consideration of the fact that migration related offences include a host of cross-border crimes, such as the smuggling of drugs and weapons, amongst others, the project also seeks to create an enabling environment for effective collaboration among relevant national law enforcement agencies, through the organization of interagency border management conferences"
He revealed that Denmark is hopeful that with the level of commitment continued to be shown by all partners to this project and the current work, the collective goal of improving Ghana’s border and migration management will be attained.
Taking her turn, Head of Office, ICMPD Ghana, Amala Obiokoye-Nwalor said "Since 2016, ICMPD has been supporting the GIS in its strategic planning process,which saw the development of the just expired 2018-2022 strategic plan.
She added that prior to the expiration of the plan, ICMPD with funding from the European Union also conducted an evaluation of the plan to draw out good practices and lessons learnt.
"Consequently, this new 7-year strategic plan will build on the gains of the last plans as well as other framework documents such as National Migration Policy and the Land border security strategy. "
"It will also take cognisance of the lessons learnt from the last plan to ensure robust, well-articulated document that will guide GIS future programming and contribute to the attainment of its mandate"
The project, according to her, is implemented in line with ICMPD's three-pronged approach of Research, Capacity development and Dialogue.
"The entire strategy development process and the plan itself is designed to strengthen the GIS capacity in result based management."
The Ghana Immigration Service with support from the "Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana" (SMMIG) project, funded by the Government of Denmark and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)has begun the development of a new 7-year Strategic Plan (SP).
The SP is one of the framework documents which guides GIS policies and programmes, thereby providing direction for the GIS in achieving its mandate.
Furthermore, the SP will serve as a tool for engaging stakeholders and partners.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
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