Immigration Probes DAILY GUIDE Story

A team of investigators has been constituted to unravel the source of DAILY GUIDE’s publication on Monday 26th March, 2012, about the brewing tension in the Ghana Immigration Service.

The publication, which left many top brass in the GIS wondering who could have leaked such classified information to the media, led to a number of officers and men being questioned by the team.

A source at a recently-held National Security meeting indicated that the matter was tabled for discussion after it was said to have gained national attention.

Investigations conducted by this reporter revealed that three top senior officers were on the verge of being given an extension of their stay in office when DAILY GUIDE broke story.

Aggrieved persons in the service are already up-in-arms against the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government for what they described as plans to circumvent the laid down procedures in GIS.

In the light of this, aggrieved persons in the service in Kumasi and Accra are threatening a demonstration to force government to ensure the three senior officers at the GIS proceed on their mandatory leave.

It would be recalled that some officers of GIS had been fuming over the continuous stay in office of three senior officers who had attained the mandatory retirement age but were still occupying top managerial positions.

Investigations conducted by DAILY GUIDE revealed that the current acting director of the GIS and two of his deputies in acting positions should have, in accordance with the Civil Service Act, retired but it they are still at post.

Whereas COP Dr. Peter A. Wiredu was expected to have handed over officially on March 6, 2012, his subordinates- Daniel Taabazuing, a deputy director in charge of operations, and Veronica Addy, a deputy director in charge of Finance and Administration of the service- should have both retired in December 2011 and on March 16, 2012 respectively.

Their alleged political leanings to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) seem to have retained them in their respective positions despite the mandatory retirement age.

The senior officers, who are allegedly extorting monies from officers and men before effecting their transfers to “lucrative” stations in the country, are also purportedly allowing themselves to be manipulated by politicians.

In the last recruitment exercise, it was alleged that most recruits currently under training at Assin Fosu in the Central Region and Asutuare in the Eastern Region were picked because some key persons in government, in connivance with management, had presented them.

DAILY GUIDE can confirm that about 800 of such persons have been distributed to the two training camps. Sources can confirm that two of them are currently pregnant, giving rise to concerns that majority indeed fell short of the criteria for recruitment yet were given the nod.