Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Charles Owiredu says the importance of the free movement of citizens between ECOWAS states cannot be understated in the achievement of free trading between member states.

Mr. Owiredu made this statement when he was giving an open remark on behalf of the Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey during the “Advocacy and Sensitization Campaign For Free Movement and Migration” town-hall meeting held at the ministry Thursday.

The Deputy Minister in his speech, related the restriction on the movement of persons and economic activities, to the prevalence of poverty and underdevelopment in the region.

He said this was in spite of policies such as the “ECOWAS Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons” adopted by the community to boost trade and other economic activities within the region.

Lack of knowledge of the rights and responsibilities enshrined in the Protocol, irregular migration, crimes such as human trafficking, high level of extortion and harassment were some of the factors the minister cited as being detrimental to the realization of the objectives of the protocol.

He, however, was emphatic about government’s role in ensuring the implementation of the protocol on free movement is achieved. Among other things he said, the National Identification Authority since 2018 has issued approximately 560,00 ECOWAS Cards with registration still ongoing. The operational usage of the cards is expected to commence by March 2020.

He further indicated how assiduously government is working to make the movement of persons and goods through the removal of several security checkpoints across the country easier.