British High Commission donates vehicles to Ghana Immigration Service

The Home Office International Operations (HOIO) of the British High Commission has donated two cross country vehicles to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to support its Ghana Immigration Task Force (GITF) project. 

The GITF is a unit that liaises with the UK Home Office to check immigration crime.

The gesture was also to strengthen the relationship between the two agencies in the fight against illegal migration.

The International Liaison Manager of HOIO, Femi Akerele, presented the vehicles to the Comptroller-General of the GIS, Kwame Asuah Takyi, at the Immigration headquarters in Accra yesterday. 

Fighting crime

Mr Akerele said organised immigration crime remained a real threat to UK and Ghana, hence the task force to tackle crime groups.

He said his outfit would work closely with the team through training, equipping them with the needed logistics, including technology and facilitating the office to enable them to dispense their duties in an efficient and effective manner.

“By working collaboratively, we can bring our expertise and assistance together to tackle organised crimes”, he noted.

Mr Takyi said the country viewed the commitment and support of Britain to the GIS as critical in the management of border security, as the service was strategically positioned to fight cross border crimes at the various borders of the country.

“As we know, the current development along the borders brings to the fore the need for more vehicles to patrol our borders to effectively deal with the undesirable elements who may want to enter the country illegally”, he explained.

Mr Takyi commended the UK Government for its commitment and support to the GIS over the years.

He said transportation played a critical role in the GIS operation as it provided vital support to the command across the strategic operations and at all levels of work, emphasising that  transportation strategy and distribution of vehicles was essential to the effective delivery of migration management in the country.

“The  donation of the vehicles will, therefore, go a long way to support the operation of the GIS as the inadequate number of vehicles often hamper our operations,” the GIS Comptroller-General asserted.

Mr Takyi further gave an assurance that the GIS would work closely with the commission for the mutual benefit of both countries.