Massive rot at GIS; 9 officers interdicted

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has interdicted nine officers for their alleged involvement in falsification of stamps, permit racketeering, theft of residence permit stickers, underpayment and non-payment of approved fees and abysmal supervision of subordinates, among others, leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of cedis.

The officers have been handed over to the police for criminal investigations.

According to the service, it also turned out that some of these officers turned themselves into a cabal within the service, defrauding unsuspecting clients and the state.

The affected officers are Assistant Immigration Control Officer (AICO) II Prince Adokwei Addo, stationed at Headquarters and Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI) Penny Oduro Sarpong, stationed at Headquarters.

Others are AICO 1 Kwadwo Huttons at Headquarters; AICO 1 Joseph Amponsah, Headquarters; AICO 1 Courage Ghandih, Headquarters; and AICO 1 Francis Quaicoe, Tema.

The rest are Assistant Inspector Colins Appiah, Headquarters; Immigration Control Officer (ICO) Jeffrey Tetteh, Paga; and Immigration Control Officer (ICO) Nathan Kpegbah, Headquarters.

Interdiction letters sighted by The Finder and signed by Judith Mawunyo Dzokoto, acting Director of Finance and Administration, and copied to the Director of Immigration, warned the interdicted officers not to enter or go near any immigration installation until the case is finally determined.

Some of the interdicted letters were dated as far back as December 2014.

According to the interdiction letters, the officers would continue to receive two-thirds of their salary.

In the letters, some of the accused officers were advised to refund the money belonging to the service or face criminal prosecution on completion of investigations.

Speaking to The Finder, Head of Public Affairs of GIS, ACOI Francis Palmdeti, said in 2014 the service noticed a drop in its revenue generation, thereby affecting its internally generated funds.

He explained that the Director of Immigration immediately tasked the Intelligence Unit of the service to look into the matter.

He noted that prior to this, a committee was set up in 2013 to unearth the causes of revenue leakage within the service.

According to him, the findings of the committee and recommendations served as useful leads for the Intelligence Unit in carrying out the assignment, and the unit did an extensive job and revealed very disturbing practices of some senior and junior officers.

ACOI Francis Palmdeti stated that the conduct was patently uncharacteristic of the majority of GIS personnel; therefore, management would ensure that such criminal elements do not remain within the institution.

Meanwhile, the public is advised not to transact any immigration business with the above-mentioned officers until the matter is fully determined. The public would be duly informed about the outcome of these cases when they are concluded.

The general public, especially foreigners, are advised not to use immigration officers as agents to procure permits or visas on their behalf, since that would be tantamount to conflict of interest, contrary to the code of conduct of public servants.

In a related development, the following Resident Permit Stickers have been cancelled and declared invalid. Stickers for Dependant Permit Holders with the inscription ‘Permitted to reside in GHANA under Regulation 9(8) of LI 1691 as spouse/dependant/student of’ with serial numbers ranging from:

• RP0000001 - RP0003000, and

Stickers for Principal Permit Holders with the inscription ‘Permitted to reside in GHANA under Sect. 13(1) of Act 573 whilst employed by’ with serial numbers ranging from:

• RP 0201052 – RP 0201100

• RP 0201101 – RP 0201127

• RP 0201228 – RP 0201300

• RP 0201301 – RP 0201398

• RP 0211101 – RP 0212000

Any foreigner with the said Residence Permit with similar serial numbers should report to the Public Affairs Unit at the Headquarters or the CID Headquarters to assist in investigations.

Following this development, the Enforcement Unit of the GIS would step up its enforcement activities to ensure that foreigners living within the country comply with the laws of Ghana.

The general public and the foreign community, as well as law-abiding expatriate communities residing in Ghana, should be assured that the GIS would continue to work in the interest of the state.

Some concerned officers of the service believe that this case would suffer the same fate like others in the past.

According to them, officers indicted for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices are interdicted and later reinstated and transferred to cover up the corruption.

One officer is alleged to have embezzled GH¢256,785 in respect of visitors’ Extension and Re-Entry Permits for expatriate employees of Huawei Technologies Ghana Limited.

The concerned officers allege that the interdicted officers would not be prosecuted because they are related to top officials of the service.

Some of the concerned officers are of the view that management members and schedule officers who are to conduct proper supervision are not doing so for fear of being tagged wicked.

According to them, the officers, therefore, fail to discipline their subordinates who go wrong.

In this particular case, some of the officers interdicted are relatives of high-ranking officers within the service.

The concerned officers also mentioned nepotism, which they say is not helping matters as officers seem to have been handheld into the service.

They want the Director of Immigration to crack the whip and his lieutenants should also sit up and check the rot within the service if they are not complicit.

Some of the concerned officers think the Director is too soft, and the intransigent officers see that as his weakness.