Inadequate immigration personnel at the Bunkpurugu-Togo border is hampering effective monitoring as the country enforces stricter measures to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nonetheless, the personnel say they are on high alert to ensure that the directives by the president are strictly complied with.
The Sector Commander of Immigration Service, Chief Inspector Williams Ando said about 50 recalcitrant Togolese have been refused entry since the borders were closed.
There are fewer than 20 immigration personnel manning three approved routes and several unapproved routes in the North East region to the Republic of Togo.
Williams Ando said the command has decided to partner with its Togolese counterpart to ensure that the right thing is done.
He said this during an inspection tour of the border posts by the North East Regional Minister, Solomon Boar.
“Since the directive came, it has been our duty to ensure that people don’t use this place. So far we have returned more than 50 Togolese nationals who were trying to use this place. Since the closure of the border, we have not had any issue of people using vehicles. As it is now things are going on very well, the problem we have is lack of personnel but then we are coordinating with our Togolese counterparts so that where we have difficulty they will then be able to fill the gap for us so that if we have to put one person there we will be assured that the Togolese have two other people who are also assisting us. So we are having that collaboration with them to ensure that effectively we close the borders. The directive given to us is that the nation is relying on us as Immigration Service and we should not fail then and we will surely not fail the nation.”
On his part, the North East Regional Minister, Solomon Boar has instructed the personnel not to allow any chance for any traveller to cross into any of the borders for the period.
“Will they need you in Ghana today? If you are a Ghanaian National will they need you in Togo tomorrow? Pure and simple, and we want you to adhere to the protocols. No Togolese is entering Ghana and we don’t want any Ghanaian to cross to Togo. Please adhere to that strictly, from time to time we will be here to see how everything is being observed. Even when we are not here, we have other faces that you might not even know that they are here doing the things on our behalf and they will be monitoring everything that you are doing. So, we want you to take note of it critically and don’t take anything for granted because these are not normal times and we ought to do things in such a way that even if they are inconvenienced it will lead to a very healthy nation for all of us.”
Ghana closes all its borders
Ghana closed all its borders from midnight of Sunday, March 22 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The border closure would last for two weeks according to President Nana Akufo-Addo and “will not apply to goods, supplies and cargo.”
“All our borders; by land, sea and air, will be closed to human traffic for the next two weeks beginning midnight on Sunday,” he said in an address to the Nation on Saturday evening.
President Akufo-Addo said the government’s aim with all its measures are to “limit and stop the importation of the virus; contain its spread; provide adequate care for the sick; limit the impact of the virus on social and economic life and inspire the expansion of our domestic capability and deepen our self-reliance.”
Initial restrictions before the reviewed travel protocols allowed only Ghanaians and foreign nationals with residence permits in Ghana.
But ahead of the closure, this category of travellers were subjected to a mandatory quarantine.
Government must intensify public education at border towns – Health Analyst
A health management analyst, Anthony Gingong is calling for a holistic and integrated education and surveillance campaign in border towns in the wake of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to him, this, when done, has the potential of curbing any potential outbreak in Ghana.
Ghana has approved entry points dotted along its boundaries but it appears surveillance and restriction measures are centred in major areas like Accra, Tema, Kumasi and major border towns.
Ghanaian officials have raised concerns over the country’s readiness to have screening sites at all entry points.
Speaking to Citi News, Health Management Analyst, Anthony Gingong suggested that attention must be paid to active surveillance in such areas.