Government is restructuring the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to reflect its expanded roles and current challenges in the institution’s workings and structures and to enable personnel to carry arms for their safety.

Consequently, the government has begun the process of improving the operations of the Service, seeking to make it more efficient and responsive to the country’s national security imperatives.

Thus, Parliament on Thursday began considerations on the Immigration Service Bill, 2015 that would re-enact the Immigration Service Act, 1989 (PNDCL 226), which is considered outmoded.

The Immigration Service Bill, 2015, will expand the operational structures of the GIS, create more Departments, Sections and Units to support the three existing directorates.

The bill will among other things, give personnel of the GIS the right to carry arms to effectively protect the nation’s territorial borders.

It will give the GIS the power to set up a border patrol unit, document fraud expertise centre, an migration management bureau, among others.

A report of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior on the Bill, presented by Mr Fritz Baffour, Chairman of the Committee on Thursday on the floor of the House, during the second reading of the document, emphasised the need for personnel of the GIS to wield weapons for personal safety and for operational efficiency.

The Bill, aside empowering GIS personnel to carry arms, seeks also to elevate the Services’ Board to the status of that of a Council.

In his contribution, Deputy Ranking Member of the Committee on Defence and Interior, Major (Rtd) Derrick Oduro said the “bill is long overdue,” and that, personell of the GIS needed to be issued arms to work effectively.

“Previously, Border Guards were using weapons to chase smugglers but that responsibility was taken over and given to the Immigration Service, they were prevented from using weapons. That has not been helpful to effectively police our borders,” he said, while urging his colleagues to support the passage of the bill.

Mr James Agalga, Deputy Interior Minister said the Bill, when passed, will empower officers of the Service to carry arms and other weaponry to enable the GIS to fight border crimes effectively.

The Bill will address the ranking system of the Service, which often hampered career progression and engendered administrative and disciplinary challenges.

Also, the hierarchical command structure of the Service, where the Head is referred to as ‘Director’ and which is said to be creating problems of ‘due recognition’ both locally and internationally, would be elevated to Comptroller-General to be consistent with other security institutions.

Prior to the passing of the Immigration Service Act, 1989 (PNDC Law 226), the GIS was a Department under the Ministry of the Interior. It became an autonomous Service after the promulgation of the Law.

The PNDC Law 226 limited itself to the structure of the Service only, excluding issues of its mandate and functions. Its operational mandate was therefore inferred from the provisions of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573), which provides for the Admission, Residence, Employment and Removal of foreign nationals and other related matters.

The mandate was further given effect by the passage of the Immigration Service Regulations, 2001 (L.I. 1691).

In 2006, a Cabinet decision was taken to entrust border patrol to the Service. This led to the establishment of the Border Control Patrol Unit in the same year. The Immigration (Amendment) Act, 2012, (Act 848), criminalized Migrant Smuggling and prescribed the appropriate penalty for the offence.