A six-week detective training course for 30 Immigration Officers selected from across all regions of the country has commenced in Accra with the aim of building their capacity as prosecuting officers.
The selected Immigration Officers, who are going through the training at the Police Training School in Tesano, would be reassigned and officially recognised as prosecuting Officers for the Legal Department of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) after completion.
This was contained in a statement issued and signed by the Head of Public Affairs of the GIS, C/SUPT. Michael Amoako-Atta, and copied to the Ghanaian Times yesterday.
The subjects outlined for trainees to undertake included criminal laws, evidence gathering, advocacy, and Immigration laws.
Speaking on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Immigration, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration in charge of Legal, Research and Monitoring, Mrs Baaba Asare, expressed optimism that knowledge acquired by trainees would be beneficial to the legal system of GIS and its transformation agenda.
Additionally, she noted that the subjects outlined would help shape the thinking capacities of trainees, introduce them professionally to the legal world and equip them to be able to live up to expectations.
To the participants, Mrs Asare admonished them to take the training seriously and use the opportunity to upgrade themselves, adding that “with a wide range of immigration offences across the length and breadth of the country, ranging from smuggling, identity theft, possession and use of fraudulent documents, fraudulent acquisition of Ghana passports, cross border crimes among others, it was the responsibility of the Prosecuting Officer to diligently investigate matters and be sure of its substance before hauling the matter to court.”
Moreover, the Deputy Comptroller-General advised the trainees to be circumspect in their dealings as prosecutors in order to ensure community trust and public confidence, thereby preserving the name and image of the GIS.
In his remarks on behalf of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Director of Operations at the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) Headquarters, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Isaac Asante, underscored the need for prosecutors to have a deeper knowledge in the law, procedural requirements, building of dockets and court room confidence to be able to deliver.
“It is worth observing that many cases are lost in the law courts not necessarily because they are bad cases, but cases are lost as a result of poor prosecutors hence participants should take the training course very serious”, ACP Asante said.
He further gave the assurance that the Police Service was committed to ensuring that the GIS rode on its experiences and expertise over the years in the field of prosecution to enable improvement of field performance and confidence of trainees.
Present at the ceremony were: the Head of Training for the Ghana Immigration Service, Mrs Belinda Adwoa Sika Ogunlana, the Head of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI), Mr Thomas Ewuntomah, and the Head of Immigration Professional Standards and Ethics Unit, Chief Superintendent, Mr Philip Andoh.
BY TIMES REPORTER
