President Akufo-Addo has appointed the Commissioner of Immigration (COI), Isaac Owusu Mensah, as the new Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration (DCGI) in charge of Finance and Administration.

This is in pursuant to Section 16, (1) of the Ghana Immigration Service Act 2016, Act 908.

He becomes the second Senior Officer to attain this height, following the retirement of Judith Dzokoto-Lomoh after the passage of Immigration Service Act 908, which replaced PNDC Law 226 in March 2016, creating the need to restructure the ranking system in the Service.

An official statement issued and signed by Supt. Michael Amoako-Atta, the Head of Public Affairs said.  

Mr Owusu Mensah had held various command positions with over 28 years of experience in all aspects of Immigration operations including; enforcement, intelligence, communications, human resource and border management.

Until his appointment, Owusu Mensah was the Head of Border Management Department. He also served as the Regional Commander for the Volta and Greater Accra Regions at different times.

He was at one time the Head of the Human Resource Department and later Head of the Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department and held other key positions at the National Headquarters of Ghana Immigration Service.

In a ceremony to decorate Owusu Mensah with the rank of DCGI, the Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, charged the new Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration to bring his years of experience to bear on his new role, build a strong team, and realign the human resource and administrative functions of the Service.

"Strive for excellence at all times and endeavour to leave a legacy that would stand the test of time," he noted.

The Ghana Immigration Service was established in the year 1989 with the statutory mandate to ensure effective administration and management of migration in the country, while strengthening internal security.  

Some of them are to regulate and monitor the entry and exit of people across Ghana's Borders as well as operating a credible work and residence permit system that meets the socio-economic needs of the country.

The supervision of the GIS is under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior with the Comptroller-General as the Head of the Service and the Immigration Service Council as its Governing body.