PThe British High Commission (BHC) yesterday donated a brand new Toyota Fortuner vehicle to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to aid its newly created specialised unit to combat visa fraud and related offences.
Other items that were also donated to the GIS included specialised laptops, fraud detection equipment, batons and handcuffs.
Handing over the vehicle to the GIS on behalf of the BHC, the Regional Capacity Building Manager, Mr Alistair Rushton expressed delight at BHC’s contribution towards building the capacity of officers of GIS in intelligence gathering and investigations targeted at fake travel documents, illegal acquisition of visas, human smuggling and trafficking and activities of organised crime group.
“The officers are highly skilled and very friendly, they can function and relate well with other sister security agencies, and I urge them to share intelligence with sister security agencies” he said.
On his part, the Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi expressed gratitude to the BHC for the kind gesture, adding that the Service was making strides in building the capacity of officers and equipping them with the necessary tools and logistics in the fight against organised crime.
“Eight officers were identified and trained in digital forensic investigation, open source investigation, unarmed combat, document fraud detection and investigation into human smuggling and trafficking,” he noted.
This, he said, had improved work efficiency and enhanced the image of the Service as well.
Mr Takyi explained that recent developments on migration had made it a focal point of every country which he said, required to be managed effectively to curb crimes, saying one aspect of managing migration effectively was in training and continuous capacity building of officers.
He indicated that he was aware that the BHC was planning to put up an office accommodation at the Document Fraud Expertise Centre (DFEC) at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra for the specialised unit.
BY TIMES REPORTER
