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General News of Friday, 19 September 2014

Source: GNA

Non-Ghanaians should not compete with Ghanaians for work - Minister

Mr. Mark O. Woyongo, Minister of the Interior, has encouraged the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to ensure that non-Ghanaians do not compete with Ghanaians for work in areas typically reserved for Ghanaians.

He said except for expertise that Ghana do not have, all other areas should be reserved for Ghanaians.

The Minister, speaking at his maiden visit the GIS, cautioned foreign-owned businesses that are relocating and changing their addresses to respect the laws of the country and urged the GIS to put in measures to correct those foreign owned businesses found culpable.

Mr. Woyongo said those who would be found guilty of the offense should not see the action as harassment.

He, therefore, congratulated the GIS for their progress and successes chalked over the years, amidst challenges.

“I am of the view that as front liners, GIS should be armed because if there is any aggression, you should be able to handle it as you call for reinforcement.

“I will be meeting with the National Security and if there is the need to review the GIS law, we will do that to allow you to be armed to ensure balance of power and security at our entry points.

“But there must be discipline among you because if there is no discipline, why should we arm you? We won’t like a situation whereby you use the arms against innocent civilians,” he added.

Mr. Woyongo said as a para-military institution, strike actions or demonstrations are not permitted and advised the officers and men to avoid going public with their internal challenges; rather, they should resort to laid down procedures of addressing grievances.

He also assured them that his Ministry will work with others to bring in somebody from within to head the Service.

“We are aware that when someone from outside was brought in to head institutions, it does not inspire morale; it does not encourage people to rise to the top. But when you behave like this, why won’t we bring in an outsider to head you,” the Minister added.

The Minister also urged them to eschew partisan politics and try and remain professionals to enable them to do their work well.

Commissioner of Police Dr. Peter A. Wiredu, Acting Director of GIS, said though the service is not a revenue generating agency in the strict sense of the term, they were able to generate over 21 million cedis in 2012, over 22 million in 2013 and the first half of 2014, the Service generated over 20 million cedis for the state.

He said the revenues were generated from processing fees, fines for breach of relevant Immigration laws and charges for carrier liability which are non-traditional sources of funds to the state.

COP Dr. Wiredu said the first half of 2014, the Document Fraud Unit at the Kotoka International Airport, dealt with a total of 2,276 fraud-related cases while the Document Fraud Expertise Centre also provided a lot of services to some foreign missions in Ghana, State and financial institutions in the country during the same period.

He mentioned logistic challenges such as office and residential accommodation, inadequate resourcing of the Border Patrol Unit (BPU) of the Service and lack of funding as major areas impeding their day-to-day operations.

He, therefore, appealed to the Ministry to provide a few state of the art patrol vehicles for the Unit which has the utmost responsibility to patrol the national borders against many forms of illegality and criminality.

Dr. Adelaide Kastner, Board Chair of GIS, said GIS would continue to discharge its services with more dedication and seriousness and urged the Minister to ensure that the service is adequately resourced to do its work in confidence.

She, therefore, urged the GIS to collaborate with sister institutions, even the health sector, to handle the Ebola outbreak effectively.

The Minister earlier visited some security agencies under the Ministry.