Accra – On April 28, 2022, the Minister for the Interior, Honourable Ambrose Dery, commissioned the renovated Hamile border post in the Upper West Region. He was supported by the Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Kwame Asuah Takyi; the Federal Republic of Germany’s Ambassador to Ghana, H.E Daniel Krull; and IOM Ghana Chief of Mission, Abibatou Wane-Fall.

Border patrol equipment including motorbikes, day and night binoculars, tents, first aid boxes, raincoats, solar lamps, among others, were also provided to facilitate the management of irregular border crossings around the border post. A water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facility was also constructed to serve travellers in order to improve public health security in the light of public health emergencies.

The Minister for the Interior and Member of Parliament for the Nandom Constituency in Ghana, Honourable Ambrose Dery, in his remarks commissioning the renovated facility at Hamile in Ghana, commended IOM and the German Federal Foreign Office for their commitment to improve the infrastructure at the land border posts. He remarked that “the installation of this [MIDAS] system is timely especially at a time that our government is championing the Digital Ghana Agenda which seeks to digitize Government services, build a biometric National Identity register, deploy a digital property addressing system, mobile money interoperability and institutionalize paperless port operations among others”.

His Excellency Daniel Krull, Federal Republic of Germany’s Ambassador to Ghana, expressed his appreciation to the Government of Ghana for the longstanding relationship between the two countries. He stated that “effective border management is part of security policy. At the same time, we are all aware that border management alone will not solve the problem and will not secure security in the long run.

It is very important that Ghana continues its policy in strengthening the resilience of communities at the borders”. IOM Ghana (Resident), Togo and Benin Chief of Mission, Ms. Abibatou Wane, mentioned that “Borders supported by functional infrastructure and equipment play an important role in traveller and trade facilitation, providing rich migration data that can be used to support evidence-based policies. The renovation of the Hamile border post and the installation of MIDAS will make it more functional in the delivery of its statutory mandate and functions.” She also reiterated the importance of land borders stating that they have become intersections connecting the security, economic, infrastructure, and trade actions of States.

The event in Ghana was also attended by selected Burkina Faso Immigration officers stationed at Hamélé (the adjoining border town in Burkina Faso); the Police Liaison at the Federal Republic of Germany Embassy to Ghana; the Security Governance Initiative representative from the Embassy of the United States of America to Ghana; Member of Parliament for Lambussie; District Chief Executive for Lambussie; Paramount Chief of Lambussie and a cross section of the security agencies in the Hamile border town.

On the same date, the official handover of border patrol equipment organized by IOM Benin, took place in Cotonou at the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security headquarters. The Benin handover ceremony was presided over by H.E Alassane Seidou, Minister of the Interior and Public Security; in the presence of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Benin Republic, H.E Michael Derus; the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Benin, Salvator Niyonzima; as well as the IOM Accra Senior Programme Manager, Nnamdi Iwuora. During his remarks in Cotonou, the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, H.E Alassane Seidou, thanked the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the constant and renewed commitment and support. He also took the opportunity to express his sincere thanks to the entire United Nations System (UN) in Benin and to IOM which, since its establishment in Benin in 2012, has distinguished itself in supporting the government of Benin on issues as varied as migration, security, and border management.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Benin, Mr. Salvator Niyonzima, highlighted that “the donated equipment covers particularly the Tchikandou border post where renovation work is being finalized. This work includes the installation of renewable energy sources, the construction of a borehole and the installation of MIDAS. Our wish is that all Benin's land borders will be so equipped, to better fight against all forms of cross-border crime and produce reliable data to serve as programmatic tools in the hands of the government.” The Benin handover was attended by over thirty (30) participants including members of the Ministry, representatives of the Department of Emigration and Immigration (DEI), representatives of the Republican Police (DGPR) along with the Tchikandou border post, among others.

The interventions were implemented to enhance traveller facilitation and control while improving migration data collection and border security. The Migration Information and Data Analysis Systems (MIDAS) was also installed to support the digitization of migration data management. MIDAS, which was developed by IOM, is a user-friendly, non-commercial and fully customizable border management information system that provides countries with the possibility to collect, process, analyse and share traveller information.

The interventions were carried out under the “Strengthening border security and border community resilience in the Gulf of Guinea” regional project covering Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

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For more information on the Hamile handing over, please contact Daniel Tagoe, National Project Officer, Immigration and Border Management (IBM), IOM Ghana, at dtagoe@iom.int or +233 30 274 2408.

For more information on the Benin handing over, please contact Mame Diarra Kane, Project Officer, IOM Cotonou – Bénin, at mdkane@iom.int or +229 54 344 935.