Accra, Nairobi – To learn best practices to establish the Ghana National Migration Commission (GNMC), one of the key recommendation of the 2016 Ghana National Migration Policy, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) facilitated a study visit of the inter-ministerial Technical Working Group tasked to work towards its establishment to Kenya on 18-19 February 2019 to meet the Kenya National Coordination Mechanism on Migration (NCM). Once established, it is envisioned that the GNMC will be the coordinating body tasked to oversee all migration related issues in the country to ensure policy coherence and harness the developmental benefits of well-managed migration.

In welcoming the Government of Ghana (GoG) delegation, Mr. Alexander Muteshi, Director General of the Kenya Immigration and Citizen Services, stated that Kenya and Ghana have a long-standing relationship dating back to the struggle for independence and extending among others to trade, diplomacy and migration, as represented on the occasion of a previous study visit to Ghana for representatives of the Government of Kenya in 2018.

Mr. Dominic Afriyie Agyeman, Head of the Migration Unit of the Ghana Ministry of the Interior and Head of the GoG delegation stated, “The delegation is visiting Kenya to understand the process of setting up the NCM, its structure, mandate, membership, the challenges and opportunities. This knowledge will be critical in establishing the GNCM. We are grateful to IOM Ghana and IOM Kenya for facilitating this visit and exchange”.

During the first day, the NCM Secretariat presented its inter-agency coordination platform responsible for migration management. The NCM is constituted by government ministries, departments and agencies having a relevant migration governance mandate and is based at the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government. Presentations were also made by select members of the NCM including the National Employment Authority (NEA), Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Diaspora and Consular Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Counter Trafficking in Persons Secretariat.

On the second day, the delegation visited the Namanga One Stop Border Post (OSBP) on the Kenya-Tanzania border where it was received by the Border Management Committee (BMC) who presented on the OSBP structure, coordination mechanisms, reporting and success, which include facilitating trade, the movement of people, and improving security.

The Ghanaian Delegation, comprised of officials from the Ministry of the Interior (MoI), spearheading the process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MoFARI), Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), Labour Department (LD), Management Services Division, and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The study visit, a prime example for south-south cooperation and knowledge exchange, is funded by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sub-Fund of the Peace and Development Fund, of which the People’s Republic of China is a major contributor. It follows a study visit to Abuja, Nigeria, in January 2020 during which the GoG met with the Nigerian Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Peoples (NCFRMI).

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For more information, please contact Eric Kwame Akomanyi (Project Assistant) at IOM Ghana, Tel: +233302742930, Email: eakomanyi@iom.int, John Njoroge, (Senior External Relations Officer) at IOM Kenya, Tel: +254204221103, jnjoroge@iom.int