The Ghana Immigration service as part of its second phase of strengthening migration management in Ghana (SMMIG) program is commencing an intensive training session on fundamentals of intelligence analysis for selected officers of the service in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).
The five-day training workshop, sponsored by the Danish government, seeks to equip the officers with the necessary skills in intelligence analysis to be able to do proper forecasting in their work.
The immigration service is confident that the intelligence analysis course will increase awareness, produce evidence-based knowledge and build skills that will assist in the service’s strategy to combat crime, carry out investigations and exchange information.
Speaking at the opening ceremony attended by the members of the GIS, the deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration, Dr Isaac Owusu Mensah, who officially opened the workshop pointed out that the intelligence analysis is a crucial support function for successful law enforcement projects, investigations and operations against serious crime and terrorism.
According to Dr Mensah, the law enforcement officers of the GIS undertaking the workshop training are a total of 50 officers with 20 from the headquarters. He further pointed out that the training was to influence the officers to go to their regions and train others who didn’t have the privilege, adding that the training was both theoretical and practical followed by a five-year fully resourced project in the communities.
The selected officers to take part in the training are law enforcement officers in the service who will be equipped with knowledge to make data-driven decisions to contribute to national security.
He stresses that they have had intelligence training for some of the law enforcement officers at the borders, but this training is an advanced course of the earlier one which is to enhance their knowledge on terrorism attack.
Under revenue mobilization, the deputy Comptroller-General who is also in charge of finance and administration indicated that while the Togo border has been opened, Ivory Coast is yet to be opened but they are waiting on it.
“We are picking up gradually, but I’m sure when all the West African countries open their borders, then we can have full effect of the cooperation within the ECOWAS”, he said.
Addressing the issue of the Immigration officer in the Upper West Region, Michael Otu, who was shot and killed by unknown assailants three months ago, Dr. Mensah assured the media that they had collaboration with all the security agencies and progress is being made with the investigation.
On her part, Amala Obiokoye-Nwalor, Acting Head of the office of International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) stated that at the end of the session, the trained officers should be able to process information, and combat immigration related crimes and advise the government on steps to take to secure the border.
According to her, the objective of the training is to help officers identify patterns of crime in geographical context and apply different analytical techniques in order to draw financial analysis. She indicated that her outfit is organising and funding the training by providing the necessary resources needed for a successful completion.
Training of prosecuting officers
In a related development, thirty (30) Immigration Officers selected from across all Regions of Ghana and some major Sector Commands have converged at the Ghana Police Service Detective Training Academy to begin a six-week detective training course at the Police Training School in Tesano, Accra.
The selected Officers and Men are to be reassigned and officially be recognized as prosecuting Officers for the Legal Department of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), after the training course.
At a short opening ceremony and orientation for the commencement of the training course, the deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration in charge of Legal, Research and Monitoring, Madam Baaba Asare, on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Immigration, expressed optimism that the trainees are going to be of immense assistance to the legal system and the GIS Transformational Agenda.
She anticipated that the subjects that have been outlined for trainees to be taken through which include criminal laws, evidence gathering, advocacy and Immigration laws would shape their critical thinking capabilities, introduce them professionally into the legal world and equip them to be able to live up to expectations.
Madam Baaba Asare admonished participants to take the course seriously and find their selection as an opportunity to upgrade themselves for their individual development. She added 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 amongst others, it is the responsibility of the Prosecuting Officer to diligently investigate matters and be sure of its substance before hauling the matter to court.
She stressed that along their operations as prosecutors, participants should be circumspect in their dealings and ensure community trust and public confidence is prioritized hereby preserving the name and image of the Ghana Immigration Service.
The deputy Comptroller-General also used the platform to express sincere appreciation to the Denmark Government who through the International Center for Migration and Policy Development (ICMPD) is sponsoring this course under the Phase (II) of the Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana (SMMIG) Project which was launched earlier this year at the National Headquarters of the GIS.
She was also grateful to the Ghana Police Service for the collaborative and partnership support for the successful take-off of the training course.
IGP’s speech
Speaking on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Operations at the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) – Headquarters, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Isaac Asante stated that for prosecutors to prosecute successfully in the law courts comes with challenges hence a prosecutor needs to have deep knowledge in the law, procedural requirements, building of dockets and court room confidence to be able to deliver.
He stated that, ‘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’.
The Director of Operations/CID also gave assurances of the commitment of the Police Service to the GIS in ensuring that the GIS rides on the experiences and expertise of the Ghana Police over the years in the field of prosecution to enable trainees become more confident and improve upon their performances on the field.
He assured the GIS that the Commandant and Personnel of the Detective Academy will see to successful actualization of all that is needed for participants during the training period.
The Acting Head, ICMPD Ghana Office and Project Manager for SMMIG, Ms. Amala Obiokoye-Nwalor, assured the GIS of ICMPD’s commitment to the capacity building of Officers and the strict implementation of all programs and projects scheduled.
Present at the ceremony was the Head of Training for the Ghana Immigration Service, Belinda Adwoa Sika Ogunlana, the Head of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Thomas Ewuntomah and the Head of Immigration Professional Standards and Ethics Unit, Chief Superintendent Philip Andoh.
By Wilhelmina Love Abananave
