Tension is rising steadily on daily basis within the rank and file of the Ghana Immigration Service over what they term as ‘dubious’ promotion of some senior officers to the rank of Deputy Commissioners without recourse to the law.
According to a letter dated 9th January, 2017 which is in possession of The New Crusading GUIDE, six Assistant Commissioners have been promoted to the newly created position of Deputy Commissioners and that is creating tension within the security agency.
According to a source within GIS, “The Comptroller Felix Yaw Sarpong made the promotions without recourse to the Council as there was no Council at the time the promotion letters were circulated.”
“As we speak now, the Council which has the vice President as the Chairman has not been constituted so which people formed that Council?” asked a source.
What is more worrisome, according to the source, is the non-availability of implementation plan on the new rankings.
According to the Legislative Instrument 2245 which established the new ranks, the Service Regulation 2016 mist come into force in October, 2016, as signed by the then-Interior Minister Prosper Bani, but, interestingly, some of the Officers had their new rank taking effect as far as April, 2016- five clear months before the stipulated date of entry into force of the LI- which raises questions of legality.
Louis Francis Aikins has his date of promotion backdated to take effect on 1st April, 2016, with Laud Kwasi Ofori Affrifah, Eric Afari, Prosper Price Delali Asima and Isaac Owusu Mensah all having their promotions taking effect from 4th August, 2016. The only officer whose promotion took effect after the stipulated month of October is Robert Kwadzo Abofra whose promotion date is 23 December 2016.
The source further said a letter dated December 1, 2016, inviting some Senior Officers for promotion interview was cancelled after an uproar in the Service. “So it is strange they have been promoted. When did they go for the promotion interview, which is mandatory?”queried the source.
However, in a brief interview with Francis Palmdeti, Public Relations Officer of GIS, he said the “out-gone Council gave the approval before its dissolution but the administrative processes delayed hence the alleged brouhaha. There is no cause for alarm.”
