GIS Honours Six Officers For Rejecting Bribe

Six officers of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), who declined a GH¢25,000 bribe offer by fertilizer smugglers, were on Wednesday honoured for dedication to duty.

Presenting the awards at a short ceremony in Accra, the Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Kwame Asuah Takyi, said the Officers on August 1, intercepted 1,950 bags of NPK Fertilizers meant for the Planting for Food and Jobs programme at Fielmon, an unapproved route, at the Ghana – Burkina Faso border; and refused to be induced by a GH¢25,000 offer by the smugglers.

The honoured Officers: The Hamile Sector Commander, Chief Superintendent Felix Agyeman-Bosompem, Assistant Superintendent Razak Mohammed and Inspector Prince Osei Bonsu. The rest are Assistant Inspector Benjamin Duah, Immigration Control Officer (ICO) Godfred Amponsah and Assistant Immigration Control Officer 1 (AICO I) Maurice Logochura.

The Comptroller-General commended the Officers for refusing to be enticed with money, adding that their act was a mark of integrity.

“It speaks well of you to have rejected such huge sum of money, GH¢25,000.00, despite your own economic challenges.

“You have placed the interest of the nation first, and this shows a high sense of patriotism and I encourage all Officers to emulate this good deed, he said.

According to him, the plaques presented to them should not be seen as mere pieces of paper, but something valuable their children will one day be proud of.

The CGI reassured the Officers at the durbar that they would soon bear arms to enable them to confront border crimes with the needed ruthlessness.

Contributing, the Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG) in-Charge of Finance and Administration, Mrs. Judith Dzokoto-Lomoh said “they were not led into temptation but were delivered from it.”

The DCG in-charge of Legal, Research and Monitoring, Baaba Asare, urged them to keep up the good work, and that, the honour done them should inspire them to do more, saying: “This is a good example for others in similar position to emulate,” she stated.

For his part, the DCG in-charge of Command Post and Operations, Laud Kwesi Affrifah said it was encouraging that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his recent tour of the Upper West Region, acknowledged the efforts of the Service.

The officers were presented with a certificate, an undisclosed amount of money and a plaque each.