Over 2,000 refused entry to Ghana from Ivory Coast since January

The Western Region Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) will in the coming days intensify three of its strategies that will enable it to seal off, completely, parts of the country which border with Ivory Coast in compliance with the President’s directive, on Sunday, March 22, 2020, in the wake of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic.

The strategies include an increase in the number of officers on daily patrols, constant engagement with members of BORDSEC to evaluate their border security operational strategies and courting the support of the chiefs/elders of the border towns as well as transport operators to impress upon their people to collaborate by providing useful information for prompt action.

Already, officers at the borders together with those deployed from other commands within the Region have since the closure of the borders sustained a 24-hourly patrols/surveillance at both the main Elubo border and all the identified unapproved routes.

Through this collaborative effort, the Elubo Sector Command has since the beginning of this year 2021 refused entry to a total of 2,015 persons to Ghana and refused departure to 218 to Cote d’Ivoire.

All those intercepted coming have been repatriated.

Despite this success, there are still challenges as intelligence has unveiled a cabal of canoe operators and their counterpart drivers, who have been contriving to outwit the operations of the security agencies.

And to get a better appreciation of the border security, Western Region Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service DCI/Dr. P.P.D. Asima has since the pandemic been embarking on unannounced working visits to all posts at points bordering the country and Ivory Coast.

On such occasions, he together with his officers toured all the points to find out for himself how foolproof measures instituted are.

DCI/Dr. Asima also uses the opportunity to boost the morale of officers and share ideas with commanders of sister security agencies and other stakeholders involved in the collective resolve to secure the borders.

Speaking at a durbar, on a recent unannounced working visit, the regional commander expressed satisfaction with the community engagement strategies set forth and urged them to deepen such collaborations because “security is a shared responsibility”.

He, however, did not mince words in addressing some of the recent media reportage on some alleged misconduct by a few selfish officers and warned them to refrain from such unacceptable behaviour.

He reiterated that “a closure means a closure, and so should continue to enforce all directives set forth to the letter”.

According to DCI/Dr Asima, this goes to the heart of possibly demotivating their hard working colleagues, embarrassing the Service, and also derailing gains made so far, by reducing public interest in their activities.