Immigration Service launches 7-year strategic plan

By Christabel Oboshie ANNAN & Zeenatu ABUBAKAR, Accra

Interior Minister Ambrose Derry, has urged the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to ensure effective implementation of its seven year strategic plan (2023-2029), which seeks to guide the aspirations of the Service.
He advised the GIS to own the Strategic Plan as it is in line with the services mandate to improve Border Security and Migration Management in Ghana.
He stated that he had perused the document and is 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.
The Minister said this at the launch of the Seven years Strategic Plan (2023-2029) held in Accra.
He indicated that the plan will provide a roadmap for the Service to operate an efficient, fair and firm immigration system that meets the social and economic needs of the country.
“It will also provide 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 added.
He noted that as the service continues in its commitment to promote a humane and orderly management of migration, it is necessary to collectively champion interventions and maintain a well-coordinated multi-sectoral intervention to aid the process.
He expressed his gratitude to the government of Denmark for providing funding for the development of the Plan through the “Strengthening Border and Migration Management in Ghana (SMMIG)” Project, which is carried out by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the Strategic Plan Technical Working Group, Regional Commanders, and selected Officers, whose dedication and knowledge resulted in the creation of this Document.

The Comptroller-General of GIS, Kwame Esuah Takyi said that  the Plan’s strategic themes demonstrate the services determination to achieve excellence through its key activities, and vision to become a model Immigration Service for Migration Management and National Security.

He stated that the plan will serve as a framework for the service to deploy its resources and strengths to explore the opportunities and tackle any threats it may face in accomplishing its vision.

To ensure optimum productivity and enhanced service delivery, the Comptroller General revealed that appropriate components with the respective strategies and actions have been identified with appropriate Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and a Theory of Change.

These components he stated are Border Management, Transnational Crime Prevention, Enforcement and Organizational Drivers.

Head of Office at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Lulia Jolley Socea, in a speech delivered on her behalf said ICMPD adopted a three-pronged approach to interventions, namely Research, Dialogue and Capacity Building in developing the plan.

This, according to her is the reason the 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 in identifying 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.