11 GIS officers train in community policing
Eleven Officers of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) have completed a five-day trainer of trainers course on community engagement and policing (CEP) at the Eastern Premier Hotel in Koforidua.
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The training was to enhance the competence and understanding of community engagement among GIS officers and boost their capacity to collaborate with community members in addressing local challenges.
The participants, made up of the Public Affairs and Community Engagement (PACE) Officers from the Hamile, Elubo, Paga, Mognori, Aflao, Tatale, Tumu, Menosu, Gonokrom, Bole and Pulimakom borders, having gone through the training are required to become trainers and train more officers in their respective borders.
Some of the topics, as part of the course content, were Community Engagement and Policing, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Community Safety Initiatives and Problem-solving, Fighting Transnational Organised Crimes, Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, and Cultural and Religious Orientation, among others.
Responsibility
Addressing the closing ceremony, the Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Kwame Asuah Takyi, reminded the participants that border security was not simply about guarding boundary lines, but it also included the safety and peace of border residents.
Mr Asuah Takyi, who was represented by the Head of Border Management, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration (DCOI), Emmanuel Laryea Kwei, stressed the need for officers to consider themselves as serving people and communities in all friendliness even as they remained vigilant.
That, he stated, was in line with the National Security Strategy, which highlighted a human-centred inter-agency approach, emphasising that border residents remained important allies of the GIS in the execution of its mandate of border protection, especially in the face of threats of terrorism and violent extremism.
“As citizens, however, they are also the reason why we protect the borders – the ultimate beneficiaries and their welfare must not be lost on us,” DCOI Kwei charged.
Strategic support
Speaking on behalf of the Senior Programme Manager of the Immigration and Border Governance (IBG) Unit at the International Organisation of Migration, Ghana (IOM Ghana), IBG Officer, Kojo Wilmot, explained that the project formed part of the five strategic areas of IOM Ghana, namely border infrastructure and equipment; information management and digitisation; contingency preparedness and response; community engagement and regional cooperation.
He said the workshop formed part of efforts to deepen the Service’s engagement and promote healthier border communities.
Mr Wilmot stated that already, the IOM Ghana had supported the GIS, especially in areas of infrastructure and information management by renovating border posts such as Namoo, Mognori and Pulimakom in the Upper East Region, equipping facilities with the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) and several other logistics.
He encouraged participants to implement the lessons from the workshop and pass on the knowledge received to other officers.
Gratitude
The acting Head of the Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (PPMED) of the GIS, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Elizabeth Danso, expressed profound gratitude to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the United States (US) for sponsoring the workshop, and IOM Ghana for the well-timed project.
She encouraged the participants to count themselves fortunate to have been selected and trained among the thousands to be the first trainers for the all-important concept.