Border officials alert at Kulungugu, Missiga chekpoints

Security personnel at the Kulungugu border post near Bawku in the Upper East Region, have reiterated their state of preparedness to combat any threat to peace that may arise from the turmoil in neighbouring Burkina Faso.

Kulungungu is the first entry point for commuters from Burkina Faso, and since the crises started in that country last week, socio-economic activities on both sides of the common frontier have been normal, as travelers and traders are seen going about their normal daily activities.

Assistant Superintendent Kenneth Dzimega of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), officer in charge of the Kulungungu border post who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Kulungungu said even though Burkina Faso had closed it borders to Ghana, persons crossing to the Ghana side were allowed entry but only after severe scrutiny for health and security purposes.

Mr Dzimega stated that there was no cause for alarm because the political unrest in Burkina Faso was in its capital, Ouagadougou and not likely to extend to the other provinces near Ghana.

He explained that the unrest had not spread to the major towns of the Northern part of that country which include Koupella, Kuritenga and Bitou that are closer to the frontier with Ghana.

Mr Dzimega disclosed that even though the Immigration Service had put in much effort to check migrants coming into the country, it was faced with logistic challenges including the lack of motorb ikes for patrols.

He said the border had numerous unapproved routes running between Burkina Faso and Ghana, and that this had been a major problem as it made monitoring the movement of people across the border very difficult.

Mr. Dzimega called on the relevant authorities to, as a matter of urgency, provide the necessary logistics for the protection of the country.

At Mognori, another security check post near Bawku, the GNA observed that movement of people in the area was normal and that the vast majority of commuters were traders travelling to nearby market centres in Burkina Faso to transact business.

Port health nurses at Kulungungu and Mognori check posts were seen conducting health examination on people who were coming into the country to ensure that they were not carriers of Ebola and other communicable diseases.