The British High Commission has donated a brand new vehicle and electronic gadgets to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to aid the service’s newly created specialised unit for combatting visa fraud and related offences.

The electronic gadgets included special laptops, fraud detection equipment, batons and handcuffs.

The Regional Capacity Building Manager at the commission, Mr Alistair Rushton, who presented the items at a brief ceremony at the GIS headquarters in Accra last Tuesday, said the British government was committed to supporting Ghana to strengthen its security structures to fight crime.

Building capacity

He said the British High Commission had over the period supported and contributed to building the capacity of officers of GIS in intelligence gathering and investigations targeted at identifying fake travel documents and visas, human smuggling and trafficking, and activities of organised crime groups.

Mr Rushton said eight officers of the GIS were recently trained in organised crime investigations.

He was accompanied to the offices of the GIS by the First Secretary and Africa Regional Manager for Immigration Enforcement International, Mr Emma Hardy.

Mr Rushton said he was happy with the skills set in organised crime prevention that had been given to the officers of the GIS.

“The officers are highly skilled and very friendly, they can function and relate well to other sister security agencies and I urge them to share intelligence with them,” he said.

Fighting organised crime

The Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, expressed his appreciation to the British High Commission for the gesture and for building the capacity of officers of the specialised unit.

He said the GIS was improving the capabilities of its officers and equipping them with the necessary tools and logistics to fight 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.

The Comptroller-General indicated that the training had improved work efficiency and enhanced the service’s image as well.

Mr Takyi said recent developments in migration had made it essential for every country to manage its borders well as a means of curbing crime.

He said he was aware of moves by the British High Commission to support the GIS to construct an office accommodation at the Document Fraud Expertise Centre at Kotoka International Airport in Accra for the service’s special unit on visa fraud and related offences.