The Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Derry has urged the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to ensure effective implementation of its seven year strategic plan.
The Minister made this known yesterday at the launch of the seven-year Strategic Plan (2023-2029), an institutional document which seeks to guide the aspirations of the Service in line with its mandate to improve Border Security and Migration Management in Ghana.
“… We must all own this document and ensure its effective implementation”, he stated.
The minister disclosed that he had perused the document and he’s convinced that the Plan was well thought through and clearly outlines the strategies the Service would adopt in contributing to the realization of its mandate in the next seven years.
According to him, “as we continue our commitment to promote a humane and orderly management of migration, it is necessary for us to collectively champion interventions and maintain a well-coordinated multi-sectoral intervention to aid the process”.
This Strategic Plan, Mr Ambrose Derry indicated, provides a roadmap for the Ghana Immigration Service to operate an efficient, fair and firm immigration system that meets the social and economic needs of the country.
“It also provides an effective monitoring and evaluation system which will guide in gauging the performance of the Ghana Immigration Service and the impact of the implementation of the Plan”, he further added.
He thanked the Government of Denmark for funding the development of this Plan under the Project, “Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana (SMMIG)”,implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development(ICMPD) and also the Strategic Plan Technical Working Group, Regional Commanders and selected Officers whose commitment and expertise saw the realization of this Document.
Moreover, Comptroller-General of GIS, Kwame Esuah Takyi, who also addressed the gathering at the launch said with the expiration of the 2018–2022 Strategic Plan, the Service commenced the development of its 7-year Strategic Plan, which is launched.
The strategic themes of the Plan, Mr. Takyi asserted attest to their resolve to achieve excellence through our core functions and defines their Vision “To become a model Immigration Service for Migration Management and National Security”.
“The Plan is a framework through which we shall apply our resources and strengths to explore the available opportunities and confront any threats that we may encounter towards achieving our Vision”, Mr. Takyi said.
To ensure optimum productivity and enhanced service delivery, the Comptroller General further revealed that appropriate components with their respective strategies and actions have been identified with appropriate Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and a Theory of Change.
These components, he stated, are 1. Border Management 2.TransnationalCrime Prevention 3. Enforcement and 4. Organisational Drivers
In a speech delivered on behalf of the head of Office at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development(ICMPD), Amala Obiokoye-Nwalor by Lulia Jolley Socea, said her outfit adopted a three-pronged approach to interventions, namely Research, Dialogue and Capacity Building and it is why the drafting of this Strategic Plan was preceded by a thorough evaluation and lessons learnt exercise on the previous GIS 2018 – 2022 Plan, conducted between April – July 2022.
“This helped identify what worked, what did not work and what should be improved on. Based on these research findings, ICMPD and the Strategic Plan Technical Working Group (SPTWG) embarked on extensive consultation with GIS management, Regional Commands in the 19 GIS administrative Regions, District and Sector Commands as well as across all GIS departments, sections and Units”, she said.
She further told the gathering that the Strategic Plan shows GIS commitment to professionalism, human rights, gender-equity and growth.
