[1]customers perception of the organizational efficiency of the ghana immigration service
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SAMVENS RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY UNIT
CUSTOMERS PERCEPTION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF
THE GHANA IMMIGRATION SERVICE
(A CASE STUDY AT THE ENTRY POINT OF KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT)
BY
SAMUEL KWAKU OBENG
JUNE, 2008
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) generally is responsible for the control of
movement of people to and from the country. It is charged with the responsibility of
enforcement of all the enactments relating to the entry, residence and employment of all
foreigners in Ghana (ASIMA, 2002).
Its strategic objectives include the regulation of entry into Ghana in a manner that
facilitates travel, trade and business while ensuring the security of the borders.
It maximizes deterrence to unlawful migration by enforcing Immigration laws firmly and
fairly. The Service also ensures improvements to the processing of arriving and departing
passengers and also monitors, controls and reduces the fraudulent acquisition and use of
travel documents.
Aside preventing terrorist and other undesirable aliens from entering Ghana, the
Immigration Service collaborates with CEPS and other Security Agencies at the borders
to check drug trafficking, smuggling of precious minerals and other contrabands that
threatens the economy of Ghana and creates a bad image for Ghana in international
circles. The Immigration Service also plays a very crucial role in the promotion of
tourism, foreign investments and international trade in the country without overlooking
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the issue of security. This role is concisely expressed in the Immigration Service motto
Friendship With Vigilance. The Immigration Officer is trained to be courteous to
travelers and the public so as to attract genuine tourists to the country. The service also
recommends appropriate change in Immigration Laws and regulations in accordance with
changing circumstances so as to attract genuine tourists and investors into
Ghana(ASIMA, 2002).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Though the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) does a lot of security work for the nation,
the majority of the people in the country do not know its functions. This is because; they
cannot differentiate them from the CEPS. In addition to that, does the GIS do its work
effectively? This project therefore looked into the functions of the GIS and also educated
the public to be aware of their importance. It also looked at the organizational efficiency
of the GIS.
1.3 Aims and objectives of the study
The research work will be conducted with the following objectives.
To investigate the functions of the Ghana Immigration Service To investigate the perception of the public to the effective work of the Ghana
Immigration Service
To make an attempt to offer suggestion and recommendations based on the findingsof the research
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1.4 Research hypothesis
The aim of this study is to examine the following hypothesis below:
Null hypothesis (H0): the Ghana Immigration Service does not play a major role in the
security and economic development of Ghana
Alternative hypothesis (H1): the Ghana Immigration Service plays a major role in the
security and economic development of Ghana
1.5 The significance of the study
This study would be a useful tool in the hands of the Ministry of Interior and theGhanaian Economic Planners.
In addition, it is envisaged that the result of this study would help to create anawareness of the function of the Immigration Service to the people of Ghana and
the policy makers.
This would enable the nation to adopt strategies, which will help to achieve theobjectives of the Ghana Immigration Service.
Finally, the findings of the study would provide evidence for further researchwork.
I.6 Delimitations of the study
The study will be confined to the Public Perception and Organizational Efficiency of the
Ghana Immigration Service. Only Accra metropolis will be studied.
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1.7 Limitations of the study
The study will be limited to Accra metropolis. The study would have covered other areas
like Tema municipalities, et-cetera. But due to; less time, inadequate logistic support and
financial constrain, the study has been reduced.
1.8 Definition of terms
For the purpose of the study, certain words and terms will be used which may not be
familiar to readers. Such words and terms have been explained as follows:
Primary data: - This is the name given to data that were collected under the control and
supervision of the person or the organization making particular study.
Secondary data: - This is the name given to data that are being used for some purpose
other than that for which they were originally collected.
1.9 Organization of Study
The study will be divided into five chapters.
Chapter 1 consists of the introduction, statement of the problem, objective of study,
significance of the study, hypothesis, and limitation of the study. Chapter 2 reviews
existing literature regarding the importance of the Immigration Service. Chapter 3
consists of methodology. Chapter 4 consists of data presentation, analysis, and discussion
of the main findings. Chapter 5 concludes the study with summary, conclusion and
recommendations.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This section of the study reviews what others have written about the Customers
Perception of the Organizational Efficiency of the Ghana Immigration Service. The
section will primarily deal wit what other authors have done in regard to this subject
matter.
2.1 Definitions
2.1.1 Perception
Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the
recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through
the perceptual process, we gain information about properties and elements of the
environment that are critical to our survival. Perception not only creates our experience of
the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment. Efron, R. (1968)
2.1.2 Organization
When two or more people get together and agree to coordinate their activities in order to
achieve their common goals, an organization has been born. There is really no doubt
about the present meaning of organization. Its purpose is to create an arrangement of
positions and responsibilities through and by means of which an enterprise can carry out
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its work. An academic textbook definition of organization can be formulated as follows:
a. the responsibilities by means of which the activities of the enterprise are dispersed
among the (managerial, supervisory, and specialist) personnel employed in its service;
and b. the formal interrelations established among the personnel by virtue of such
responsibilities.
2.1.3 An organizational structure
It is a mostly hierarchical concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and
contribute to serve one common aim.
Organizations are a number of clustered entities. The structure of an organization is
usually set up in one of a variety of styles, dependent on their objectives and ambience.
The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it shall operate and
will perform.
2.1.4 Functional Structures of an organization
The functional structure groups employees together based upon the functions of specific
jobs within the organization. For example, a division of an internet service provider (ISP)
with a functional organizational structure might be as follows:
Vice President
Sales Department (sales function)
Customer Service Department (customer service function) Engineering Department (engineering function) Accounting Department (accounting function)
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Administration Department (administration function)
2.1.5 Organizational Efficiency
An Organizational Efficiency Assessment (OEA) serves as a strategic diagnostic tool,
which provides an in-depth analysis of organizational structure, staffing levels, business
processes and resulting levels of efficiency and service. The study is an evaluation of
organizational effectiveness and efficiency through the examination of practices and
procedures, work assignments, workflow and workload balancing, interdepartmental
relationships and communications. Organizational Efficiency Optimization (OEO)
delivers an organization redesign, based on process efficiency and effectiveness criteria
incorporating the aspects of structure, responsibility, communication, skill and along with
a tailored evolution roadmap.
Public sector stakeholders - government executives, officials, and most importantly,
citizens - are demanding increased accountability for the public sector value (PSV) of
government programs and systems. Government organizations need to deliver
quantifiable measurements and clear performance results in order to better understand the
impact of the programs and systems on the people they serve. Enterprise performance
management is a strategic approach to improving public sector performance. By
deploying business intelligence (BI) solutions, you can use metrics, processes, and
systems to monitor and manage government and program performance.
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2.1.6 The Importance of Organizational Efficiency
Corporate performance management improves the capability of a business. It provides
three important values to the business. They are information delivery, performance
oversight, and performance effectiveness. These values help to understand, manage and
improve the business. Corporate performance management system coordinates the
performance of managers, staff, customers and suppliers within an integrated
environment Riverside (2008).
The basic elements of corporate performance management are providing information and
strategy planning. CPM can provide the core decision makers direct access to required
information. With a clear understanding of the facts of the business, informed decisions
can be taken for boosting the performance. Performance oversight signifies an overall
view of the business details. CPM provides the required performance oversight to the
management which helps in optimizing the business. Performance effectiveness helps
business executives as well as decision makers to set clear goals and work towards
achieving them. CPM assures the necessary performance effectiveness Riverside (2008).
Corporate performance management system combines the management process in a
single, interactive and collaborative work space. Scorecards and reports can improve
finance, operations and workforce. Web based collaboration and distribution capabilities
improve the communication process. Corporate performance management system can
reduce planning, forecasting and reporting time through data capture and analysis. It
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integrates business strategies, business measures and business actions Riverside (2008).
Corporate performance management provides accurate financial information about the
day-to-day activities of people, equipment and process. It can develop comprehensive
plans and customized reports. It helps the organization to maintain profitable inbound and
outbound relationship with the customers. CPM can reduce problems associated with
reporting financial and operational data Riverside (2008).
Corporate performance management finds use in the pharmaceutical and health science
sectors. It can be used for clinical performance management and product demand
forecasting. In the financial sector, CPM is applied in mortgage banking, incurrence
claims and risk reporting. Corporate performance management is important in
manufacturing areas. It is important in supply chain planning and manufacturing
performance management. CPM application is important in aerospace and defense
management. Other important CPM areas are retail performance management, vendor
management, police performance management and the public sector Riverside (2008).
2.1.7 Defining Customer Satisfaction and Perception
Customer satisfaction is a key business performance indicator. When customers purchase
your offering, they also make an implicit decision to interact with your personnel,
account managers, accounts receivable staff, customer service staff and many more. The
measurement of customer satisfaction is therefore an aggregate of how multiple groups
within each customer company believes you have performed at the touch-points that are
relevant to each of them. Every business must objectively judge how well it is meeting
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customers expectations during every interaction with the customer. While a customer
may be viewed as a single entity by your finance department, a customer is in reality a
team of designated individuals, each of which has different types of interactions with
different individuals within your company. The complete set of customer touch points
must be optimized for the customer to conclude that it is having a positive experience
with your company. Whether your company offers a technology solution or a service that
depends upon a technology infrastructure, many of the following customer touch-points
will prove to be relevant.
2.2.0 Theoretical Frame Work
According to Kimchi (2003), the consciously perceived visual world is very different
from the raw visual information or retinal mosaic of intensities and colors that arises from
external objects. From the chaotic juxtaposition of different colors and shapes that
stimulate the individual retinal receptors, an object is seen as detached and separable
from adjacent objects and surfaces. This segmentation occurs despite the fact that parts of
a single object may be spatially or temporally discontinuous, have different colors, or
even transect several different depth planes. In addition, because most surfaces are
opaque, portions of objects are routinely hidden from view and, as one moves around,
surfaces continually undergo occlusion and fragmentation. As is apparent from this
description, the objects of phenomenal perception are not given in any direct way in the
retinal image. Some internal processes of organization must clearly be responsible, then,
for producing a single, coherent percept. Exactly what these processes are remains poorly
understood despite the roughly 100 years since the Gestalt psychologists first articulated
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the principles of perceptual organization (Kimchi, 2003). Although the Gestalt work on
perceptual organization has been widely accepted as identifying crucial phenomena of
perception, there has been, until the last decade or so, relatively little theoretical and
empirical emphasis on perceptual organization, with a few exceptions. And, to the extent
that progress has been made, there still remain many open questions.
The first concerns the multiplicity of processes involved in deriving structure from a
visual image. There is general consensus now that perceptual organization is not a
monolithic entity but, rather, that several different processes exist. What these processes
are and how they differ from one another in terms of their time course, attentional
demands, and contribution to the ultimate goal of perceptual organization remains to be
specified. A second question concerns the relationship between the various processes of
perceptual organization and object recognition, and a final question relates to the brain
systems that underlie these various perceptual organization processes(Kimchi, 2003).
2.2.1Perceptual Organization:
The Gestalt psychologists suggested that perceptual organization is achieved by grouping
elements together by virtue of certain properties that are present in the image. In the
seminal work of Wertheimer (1923/1950) and in the follow-up by Koehler (1928), the
different heuristics underlying grouping have been enumerated, and they are now
commonly listed in textbooks on perception. These heuristics include grouping by
proximity, by closure, by similarity, by good continuation, and by common fate.
Recently, Palmer (2001; Palmer & Rock, 1994) added two more heuristics: grouping by
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common region and grouping by connectedness. Despite the cataloguing and the
widespread acceptance of these different grouping principles, many, although not all,
theories of visual perception have treated perceptual organization as a unitary
phenomenon that operates at a single, early, preattentive stage, in a bottom-up fashion, to
create units which then serve as candidate objects for later and more elaborated
processing, including object recognition and identification (Marr, 1982; Neisser, 1967)
2.2.2 Neural Mechanisms Underlying Perceptual Organization
In addition to trying to understand the functional processes involved in perceptual
organization, there is also much work to be done to understand how these principles are
neurally instantiated and what brain mechanisms might be involved. Considerable
neurophysiological advances have revealed much about the specificities of neuronal
responses in visual cortex including their orientation selectivity, ocular dominance,
wavelength, and directional selectivity. However, it is not clear how the fragments
represented by these local analyzers are assembled to provide a unified percept.
It is worth noting that the Gestaltists did attempt to address the issue of neural
implementation and attributed the Gestalt processes to isomorphic brain processes. For
example, Kohler (1920/1950) conjectured that electromagnetic fields were the substrate
of the brains operation of a physical gestalt system. Although innovative in its time, this
view was incorrect and, in fact, was one of the factors that contributed to the ultimate
demise of the Gestalt perspective. Recently, many studies involving single neuron
recording in nonhuman primates as well as functional imaging in normal humans have
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been conducted to explore questions of perceptual organization. For example, there is a
host of research on the perception of illusory contours (e.g., ffytche & Zeki, 1996;
Mendola, Dale, Fischl, Liu, & Tootell, 1999; von der Heydt & Peterhans, 1989; von der
Heydt, Peterhans, & Baumgartner, 1984) and the relationship of local fragments to a
larger form (e.g., Georgopoulos et al., 2001; Hasson, Hendler, Ben Bashat, & Malach,
2001; Op de Beeck, Beatse, Wagemans, Sunaert, & Van Hecke, 2000) as well as several
studies on the neural systems involved specifically in globallocal form processing (Fink
et al., 1996, 1997; Sasaki et al., 2001). Despite this flurry of recent activity, there remains
much to be done to understand the mechanisms whereby light intensities are translated
into meaningful objects by the brain.
One possible approach to understanding both the psychological and neural mechanisms
involved in perceptual organization, and the one adopted here, is to study the
performance of individuals who are impaired at the processes of perceptual organization
following brain damage. The logic of this neuropsychological approach is equivalent to
backward engineering: As researchers, if we can understand the operation of the system
once it is unraveled, we might obtain insights into how it functions under normal
circumstances (Coltheart, 2002). The patients have a neuropsychological impairment,
referred to as visual object agnosia, in which they are unable to recognize even familiar
common objects presented to them in the visual modality. This object recognition deficit
cannot be attributed to a problem in labeling the stimulus per se nor to a loss of
semantics; presented with the same object in a different modality, either haptically or
auditorily, they have no problem in naming it or providing detailed and rich descriptions
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of it. Visual agnosia refers to a specific failure to access the meaning of objects from the
visual modality (Farah, 1990; Humphreys & Riddoch, 2001; Ratcliff & Newcombe,
1982).
Visual agnosia covers a wide spectrum of deficits, including, at one end, patients who are
unable to recover even primitive features from a display (e.g., patients who fail to search
in parallel for a vertical line among horizontal lines) and, at the other end, patients who
appear able to extract a reasonably intact percept but subsequently fail to assign meaning
to it (Farah, 1990; Humphreys & Riddoch, 2001). The patients we have chosen to study
fall midway between these two extremes: Their agnosia does not arise from impaired
low-level vision nor from the inability to assign meaning to relatively intact visual
representations, but rather from problems in organizational processes. The term applied
to this deficit in intermediate vision is integrative agnosia and was coined by Riddoch
and Humphreys (1987) on the basis of their studies with a patient called H.J.A. H.J.A.
was impaired at search tasks that require the binding of visual elements in a spatially
parallel manner across a field containing multiple stimuli; for example, he was
disproportionately slowed, relative to control participants, in detecting the presence of an
inverted Tamong upright Ts. In contrast, his search is efficient and rapid for targets that
do not require a combination of elements such as a target diagonal among multiple
verticals (Humphreys, 1999; Humphreys & Riddoch, 1987; Humphreys et al., 1994;
Humphreys, Riddoch, Quinlan, Price, & Donnelly, 1992). When the demands for
integration are low, H.J.A. and other integrative agnosic patients perform significantly
above chance levels: They can make samedifferent judgments accurately on two stimuli
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that share area and brightness but not shape (aspect ratio changes from square to
rectangle; Efron, 1968).
In addition to the impaired ability to integrate all aspects of the display into a whole,
several other characteristics now serve as the core features of integrative agnosia
(Behrmann, in press; Behrmann & Kimchi, in press; Humphreys & Riddoch, 2001). For
example, the patients are more impaired at identifying items that overlap one another
compared with the same items presented in isolation. It is interesting and also
counterintuitive that, in some patients, the presence of local information may even reduce
the efficiency of visual recognition; in contrast with normal perceivers, both patients
H.J.A. (Lawson & Humphreys, 1999; Riddoch & Humphreys, 1987) and S.M. (Butter &
Trobe, 1994) identified silhouettes better than line drawings whose internal details
apparently led to incorrect segmentation. Patients with integrative agnosia also fail to
identify shapes by subjective contours and do not appreciate occlusion normally. Another
key feature of the disorder is the failure to segregate figures from ground effectively; for
example, patient F.G.P. was unable to detect a simple shape against a pattern background
(Kartsounis & Warrington, 1991).
Finally, integrative agnosic patients are impaired at grouping elements of a display. A
clear example comes from patient N.M., who was impaired at detecting the presence of a
target letter that was formed by grouping local elements that differed from the
background element by line orientation (texture), color, luminance, or motion (Ricci,
Vaishnavi, & Chatterjee, 1999; see also, Kartsounis & Warrington, 1991; Marstrand,
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Gerlach, Udesen, & Gade, 2000). Given the paucity of research on integrative agnosia, a
definitive definition is not yet established, but the critical component is a failure in
organizational processes in tandem with a deficit in object recognition. Patients with
integrative agnosia are also obviously impaired at object recognition: As is evident from
their responses to black and white line drawings the patients we studied are clearly able
to extract some visual information from the display but apparently are unable to integrate
all aspects into a meaningful whole. The problem applies equally to the recognition of
two- and three-dimensional stimuli and to black and white and chromatic displays
although, in some cases, the presence of depth, color, and surface cues may be of some
assistance to the patients in segmenting the display (Chainay & Humphreys, 2001; Farah,
1990; Humphrey, Goodale, Jakobson, & Servos, 1994; Jankowiak, Kinsbourne, Shalev,
& Bachman, 1992). At the outset, the 2 patients were differentially impaired in their
object recognition ability, and we exploited this fact in investigating the nature of the
grouping impairment and the way in which various grouping processes might
differentially contribute to object recognition.
2.2.3 Visual Agnosia and Perceptual Organization
Two adult male patients, S.M. and R.N., both of whom are right-handed and English
speaking, consented to participate. Both had been diagnosed as having visual agnosia and
had participated in several previous studies (Behrmann, in press; Behrmann & Kimchi, in
press; Gauthier, Behrmann, & Tarr, 1999; Marotta, Behrmann, & Genovese, 2001;
Marotta, McKeeff, & Behrmann, 2002). Because extensive information is available about
them in these other publications, we present only a short review of their biographical and
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medical histories. S.M. is a young man with visual acuity corrected to 20/20. He
sustained a closed head injury in a motor vehicle accident in 1994 at the age of 18, and
the experiments reported here were conducted in 1998 and 1999. Despite extensive
injuries, he recovered extremely well and the only residual deficit is the visual agnosia.
Note that although S.M. is right-handed, he has some weakness on the right side as his
arm was badly damaged in the accident, and so he uses his left hand intermittently (and
responds in these experiments with his left hand). At the time of the accident, S.M. was
about to begin college. After several years of rehabilitation, he has returned to his studies
(although he requires considerable assistance with the visual material) and works in his
familys photographic store. R.N. experienced a myocardial infarction in 1999 at the age
of 39, and the experiments reported here were started 6 months thereafter. His visual
acuity is 20/20. He worked in his own construction business at the time of the infarction
and is not employed at present. R.N. does not have any focal lesion on his MRI scan; the
absence of a circumscribed lesion from a patient who has sustained brain damage
following a myocardial infarction during bypass surgery is not uncommon.1 Because the
neuropil is generally preserved after such an incident even if the neurons themselves are
affected, a circumscribed lesion may not be detectable even with high-resolution
imaging. Both patients performed normally on those subtests of the Birmingham Object
Recognition Battery (BORB; Riddoch & Humphreys, 1993) that tap low-level or early
visual processes, including judging line length, orientation, size, and gap position.
Both patients also had normal color vision. That both patients could derive considerable
visual information is further supported by their performance on a copying task; both
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patients produced reasonably good copies of a target object or a scene, although they did
so slowly relative to normal participants and in a labored and segmental fashion. Both
patients also performed within normal limits on more complex visual tasks, such as
matching objects on the basis of minimal features or when one object was foreshortened.
It is important to note, however, that both patients were impaired on the BORB subtests
that evaluate discrimination of overlapping shapes, and both performed in the impaired
range on the object decision subtests (task: Is this a realobject or not?), as is usually the
case with patients with integrative agnosia. In contrast with some integrative agnosic
patients (Butter & Trobe, 1994; Lawson & Humphreys, 1999; Riddoch & Humphreys,
1987), neither S.M. nor R.N. performed better with silhouettes than with line drawings.
Both patients read accurately but slowly as reflected in their response times to read-aloud
words of different lengths presented individually on the computer screen. Whereas
normal readers show minimal, if any, effect of word length on reading time within this
range (3 to 8 letters in length), both patients had increased slopes relative to control
participants. Whereas S.M. read 117/120 words correctly with a slope of 104 ms per
additional letter, R.N. read 95/120 words correctly with a 241-ms slope (Mycroft,
Behrmann, & Kay, 2002). Both patients were also significantly impaired at face
recognition (see Gauthier et al., 1999; Marotta et al., 2002).
2.4 The need for Immigration Service in Ghana
The pace of globalization seems to have picked up in recent decades, thanks to trade and
capital flows. Globalization is here to stay: The reality is that we already live in a global
economy where flows of trade, capital and knowledge across national borders are not
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only large, but also are increasing every year. In this globalizing, and rapidly changing
world economy therefore, trade facilitation among regional blocs takes on special
significance. Trade facilitation will improve the regions trade performance significantly
and thereby spur the growth of productivity and incomes. It is described as the
simplification, harmonization, automation and speeding up of the international flow of
people and goods across borders. It has become a topical and significant issue for
developing countries like Ghana because it is acknowledged that there is a strong link
between increased trade, economic growth and poverty reduction. The availability of
modern technology to significantly improve the management of cross border trade and
distribution of goods have combined to create a strong interest in trade facilitation. It has
also been noted that customs and other border related regulatory formalities are
increasingly considered a more significant barrier than tariff rates and that border
management improvement is critical to achieving sustained trade growth and global
security issues.
2.4 The reason why Ghana should keep her borders secure
The economic integrative imperatives of globalization, trade liberalization and facilitation
call for borders to become increasingly porous. A central paradox of this phenomenon is
that on the one hand, states must remain open to the movement of people, goods and
services if they want to develop. On the other hand, there must be credible controls at the
borders to prevent a whole range of threats to national security.
Why should Ghana keep her borders secure? And why should border patrols and controls
become relevant when globalization delimits territorial barriers and everybody is talking
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of facilitation of trade. Ghana needs to secure its borders against external threats and to
protect it sovereignty. Our neighbors may not necessarily pose a threat in the sense of
overt aggression but due to the open nature of the borders and the conflict in the Sub-
region individuals and groups need to be contained .A case in point is the recent arrival of
Sudanese refugees into Ghana almost unnoticed. The new thinking is that even if the
borders are essential for state sovereignty, they should not inhibit the movement of
people and trade across regions. Nonetheless in a free and open society citizens need to
have confidence in the security of the borders. There is a need to rethink and
reconceptualise our borders in a progressive manner to minimize obstacles to legitimate
movement and maintain at the same time the integrity of the borders.
2.5 Security Situation in Ghana
While appreciating the dynamics of the paradigm shift, Ghana finds itself under peculiar
circumanstances due to its geographical location. This country finds itself in a sub region
that has been in turmoil for close to two decades and in the past two years its immediate
neighbors to the east and west have been experiencing political turmoil which has spilt
over to Ghana .This poses challenges to Ghana, and especially frontline organizations,
such as the Ghana Immigration Service tasked with the primary jurisdiction over laws
that govern entry and exit to and from Ghana.
Concomitant to our position in a turbulent sub region which could create rebel and
refugee movement, is that such conflicts could and have generated transnational
organized crime involving trafficking of small arms and light weapons, illicit trafficking
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of drugs, human trafficking, armed robbery, money laundering, motor vehicle theft,
advanced fee fraud(419),cattle theft, passport trafficking and smuggling among others.
Taking cognizance of the above underscore the need for a much more comprehensive and
coordinated action. There is a need to adopt comprehensive and cooperative approach to
border management to deal with the pressures of trade facilitation, integration and greater
globalization. It is essential that a balance is struck between enhanced security and
facilitation of International trade, because it is no longer an option but the only way
forward.
2.6 Achievements of the Ghana Immigration Service
Under the Gateway project Ghana Immigration Service is expected to positively respond
to governments policy on investment and trade liberalization and facilitation by
modernizing its activities to benchmark international standards. In fulfillment of this, the
Service has undertaken the following measures:
Automation of Kotoka International Airport and Aflao; the objective is to reduce
passenger-processing time, establish a more efficient data collection, storage and retrieval
system and improve security. Plans are far advanced for similar installations to be done at
Paga and Elubo.
Construction of Data Centre: A new Data Centre to house the services Management
Information System (MIS) has been constructed. The objective is to collate and manage
all relevant data for use by the service and other organizations. The equipment is
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currently being installed and our operations and processing at the Immigration
headquarters will soon be computerized. Standard Operating Procedures: Standard
Operating Procedures (SOPs) which benchmarks our operational guidelines has also been
developed.
Strategic Plan: A strategy document which spells out our vision, mission and strategic
objectives is also currently pending managements review.
Visa On Arrival Policy: The Ghana Immigration Service has implemented the visa-on-
arrival policy.
2.7 Challenges facing the Ghana Immigration Service
Recent events have seen comments from policy makers and the general public suggesting
that our borders are unprotected. Such comments however fail to acknowledge the
immense challenges the service faces in facilitation and control. Examining critically the
capacity of the Ghana Immigration Service to deliver in the form of personnel,
technology and policy capability leaves much room for improvement despite
considerable gains.
The staff strength of the GIS is inadequate to man all approved and unapprovedroutes.
Basic technology and equipments to improve patrols and policing are almost non-existent. Technology is needed to enhance the ability of officers to detect in a more
predictable way, increase deterrence and protect border integrity.
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Processing a traveller is now basically labour intensive with little technologicalunderpinning. This causes unintended delays at the border posts, apart from KIA
and Aflao aforementioned.
Data use and data sharing among agencies at the borders should be encouraged. A lot of time is taken to process alert records which are done manually at most of
our border controls.
The porous nature of our borders contributes to an ineffective manning of ourborders.
The infrastructure especially buildings at most of our border posts are notfunctionally designed.
There are excessive documentation requirements. In the case of Immigration, due toa large number of our traders being illiterate they are unable to complete
immigration forms in a timely manner.
Lack of communication, cooperation and partnership at the local and regional levelof border agencies, which thwarts efforts to deal effectively with increased trade
flows.
ECOWAS citizens granted 90days overstay their permits and fail to renew visas. Use of unapproved routes by nationals of member states in most cases without any
travel documents.
Use of identity cards by some ECOWAS citizens especially those from UEMOAcountries instead of passports.
The increase in the movement of persons across Ghanas borders has brought aboutan increase in cross border crimes.
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Problems of transhumance caused by marauding alien herdsmen who enter thecountry through unapproved routes and engage in negative activities.
Exporters and importers complain about harassment and extortions from our borderpersonnel along the borders.
Lack of infrastructure in terms of automation, provision of equipment, use ofscanners, passport readers etc by the border agencies.
There is poor security at some of the borders, leading to traders sometimes losingtheir wares.
Lack of awareness of ECOWAS citizens about the protocols and their rights andresponsibilities.
Border residents who facilitate irregular migration across the borders for economicgains.
Use of fraudulent documents. Lack of evaluation and monitoring mechanism for the implementation of well
meaning directives, Protocols and rules.
It is worthy mention that if we evaluate the current performance of ECOWAS member
states in the area of free movement of persons one will notice that some real
achievements such as the abolition of visa requirements and the introduction of travel
certificates have been made. It is important however to acknowledge that much remains
to be done, especially in the area of removal of numerous non-tariff barriers. Such
barriers have succeeded only in creating insecurity and affect the facilitation of trade and
leads to conflicts and resentment. In the light of the sketched operational milieu of the
Ghana Immigration Service, comprehensive and integrated planning and action is needed
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as a prerequisite for the effective and efficient management of our borders to facilitate
trade process.
2.8 Modern Border Management System
How then can facilitation of trade be reconciled with the need to ensure security in the
movement of people, goods and services? Some people are of the view that, to see a
contradiction between control and facilitation is based on a false dichotomy because they
support each other.
The more effective controls are the more facilitation can be offered in no-risk areas. It
is in this light that the World Customs Organization has introduced a new instrument
The framework of standards to secure and facilitate global trade, its implementation
would however be crucial. The balancing of facilitation and control is the basic
requirement for a border management system. This in the past had taken place at the
physical point of entry but it is being extended and relocated to points of embarkation
known as advanced passenger processing.
To address the challenges therefore it would be necessary to identify what border
management tries to achieve in most jurisdictions. The border management system is the
key control mechanism for overall migration management. Effective border management
system will recognize that facilitation and control are two equally important objectives
that must be addressed at the same time.
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The two major objectives for an effective border system is to facilitate bonafide
travellers, providing a welcoming and efficient gateway to Ghana and provide a barrier
and disincentive to entry for those seeking to circumvent migration laws. With these
objectives Ghana could maximize the benefits of managed temporary and permanent
migration, while simultaneously protecting Ghana from the unauthorized entry of those
considered not to be of benefit under visa policy rules or whose entry would not be in the
national interest. The design therefore of border management systems should take into
consideration certain factors, such as:
The physical characteristics of the border.
The border permeability The relationship with immediate state neighbours The commitment and capacity of neighbouring states to control their own borders
and manage irregular migration
Whether interception of undocumented travelers is planned and feasible at points ofentry
How much checking on identity and intentions is done at the border or at pointsremote from the border?
Where the visa decision is made. The volume and variability of volume of passengers at the borders Whether there is sufficient flow of information between the various authorities
involved in border management.
The above factors immediately provide a large range of factors and options to be
addressed to enable Ghana move toward improving trade facilitation.
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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses the research design, the population and sample. It also discusses
the instruments used in the data collection, the procedure for data collection and the
method for data analysis.
3.2 Profile of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS)
A British Colonial called K.A. Price started the Ghana Immigration Service.
In the early 1940s, Ghana Immigration Service was found necessary to change the parent
unit and brought under the Police C.I.D. It was at this point that the functions of passport
control were added to its responsibilities and head of the unit was called Headquarters
Immigration Officer. It was headed by Neville Hill, a commissioner of Police. At this
point, the unit was responsible for the commuting between the various colonies.
The number of expatriates was not many and as such regulated the influx of non-
Africans. Given the political status of the country and the economic circumstances the
number of persons handled was minimal.
The rapid expansion in the economy at the attainment of independence in 1957, coupled
with Ghanas role as a peace settler in African Liberation struggle led to the country
being swamped with foreign businesspersons, African aliens in search of a greater
pastures, and tourists. Thus to control the influx, a cabinet decision in 1960 transferred
the Immigration function to the Ministry of Interior as a separate Department, whiles the
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the issuing of passports. In the course of time, it
became abundantly clear that the Immigration function had assume a specialized nature
that could not achieve its objectives if the Institution continues to be bonded in the Civil
Services machinery, which is not designed to take care of the dynamics of the issue of
security. The indicators were that, the attraction for Ghana was bound to grow as the
economy expanded on account of the favourable investment climate introduced under the
Economic Recovery Programme (ERP).
As a result, the PNDC in December 1989 approved the conversion of the Department into
a para-military Service with a Board and a Director to head the day to day administration
of service.
3.3 The research design
The research design used is survey design. The survey design involves the collection and
analysis of data, and finding out the answers concerning the current status of the subject.
This comprises observation of facts, formulation of hypothesis, collection and
classification of data, interpretation of data, formulation of theories, application of facts
and predictions. Since human behaviour is difficult and can not be predicted, it makes the
results of the research at times not to be applicable to the population.
3.4 Population
The target population used is Accra Metropolis, specifically the travelers and workers at
the Kotoka International Airport.
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3.5 Sample and Sampling Technique
The convenient sampling procedure was used to select thirty (30) people at the entry
point of the Kotoka International Airport for examination.
3.6 Instrument
Questionnaire is the major instrument that was used to collect the data. The questionnaire
was used in order to get standard form of answers or response.
3.7 Data Collection Procedure
Thirty questionnaires were used, one for each person or respondent. The questions were
read for them to answer. This is because, not all the respondents were literates. Some
were also not having time to stop and read before answering the questions. The
respondents were followed whiles moving in order to get them answer the questions.
Seventeen (10) questions will be asked in all.
3.8 Data analysis
Frequencies, percentages, bar graphs and non-parametric test (chi-square test) were used
to analyze the data. SPSS software and Microsoft Excel Software were used for all the
analysis.