Seven hundred and thirty three recruits have successfully been transformed from civilians into functional members of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) following their admission on July 27, 2018.

The recruits went through six-months of para-military training at the ISTS, Assin Fosu, with 195 of them hosted and trained at the Achiase Military Jungle Warfare Training School.

The recruits are the first batch in the history of the GIS training regime to have had synergies of Military and Immigration training.   The recruits, who displayed brilliant drills at the passing-out parade, were cautioned in an address by Mr Ambrose Derry, the Interior Minister, to be guided by professionalism, loyalty and integrity.

He added that as they joined the rank and file of the Service, the recruits must also be guided by respect for human rights, service to the nation and must never stop learning.  Mr Derry said the rapidly changing world trends required a Service and workforce dynamic enough to meet the changing demands, especially in the area of migration and national security.

"Your lessons covered the establishment, law of the Service, and its regulations, the various laws governing the core immigration duties, and professional ethics.  “Do not depart from these lessons. Continue to make discipline your hallmark as you start work," he said.

The Minister, however, noted that the GIS, last year, launched a five-year strategic plan which spans 2018 to 2022.   He said by the end of the period, the GIS was expected to have registered significant gains in six thematic areas aimed at addressing the human resource needs, equipment, infrastructure, laws and policies, ICT and funding to help realise their goals.

He said the GIS would continue to deliver on its mandate of monitoring the entry, residence, work and exit of persons in the country while ensuring the security of the country's borders.Mr Theophilus Adjetey was adjudged the Overall Best Recruit, whilst Mr Jonathan Adjei Ainoo won the Best Recruit in Academics with the Most Disciplined Recruit going to Mr Job Antwi Boasiako.

Other individual award winners were; Mr Jacob Nii Tetteh Lartey (Best in Drills - Male), Miss Esther Esi Name (Best in Drills - Female), Mr Hamid Yusuf Abdul (Best in Physical Training - Male) and Miss Agnes Apechira Pwadora (Best in Physical Training - Female).

The ISTS was established in 1998 and commissioned in 2001 to offer professional training of officers in the Service following the conversion of the erstwhile Immigration Department under the Ministry of the Interior into a Security Service by PNDC Law 226 and subsequently Immigration Service Act, 2016 (ACT 908).