�GIS Could Not Trace Files On Chinese Nationals�

The immediate past Director of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Dr Peter Wiredu, has told the Accra High Court that the GIS failed to trace all the files on the Chinese who were allegedly issued resident permits by three officers of the service without due regard to laid down procedure.

He agreed to a suggestion by counsel for the plaintiffs, Mr Benson Nutsukpui, that the true history of the transactions that took place on an application for a permit could only be ascertained from the file of the applicant.

Also, photocopies of the relevant pages of the passports of the Chinese which were required by the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Department could not be traced at the Operations Department of the GIS.

When Mr Nutsukpui suggested to Dr Wiredu that he failed to make copies of the documents of the Chinese before they were repatriated, Dr Wiredu said he had given orders that copies of the passports and the permits be made, but since he had left office for some time, he was not in a position to tell the status of those copies that were made.

‘Show me the Chinese passports’

Dr Wiredu said usually the officer who approved the permit would ultimately sign it, but responded to a suggestion that it was possible for one officer to make an approval and for a different officer to finally sign the permit.

Counsel for the plaintiffs sought to find out why he had not indicated in his reports to the Minister of the Interior that the plaintiff, Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, had asked that he be shown the Chinese passports for him to confirm or deny the signature on them as being his or not.

But Dr Wiredu maintained that he had personally shown the passports to Mr Takyi but had not captured that in his reports to the minister.

Three officials of the GIS — the acting Deputy Director in charge of Legal, Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi; the Deputy Director in charge of Finance and Administration, Madam Veronica Addy, and Assistant Director for Processing, Mr Joseph Gardiner — were interdicted on October 25, 2013 for allegedly issuing permits to some Chinese without due regard to laid down procedure.

However, following their interdiction in 2013, the GIS failed to constitute a committee to undertake a service inquiry on them.

‘Nullify my interdiction’

Following the inability of the GIS to institute the internal service inquiry against the three interdicted officers, Mr Takyi resorted to the law court to have his interdiction annulled.

In his statement of claim, Mr Takyi averred that he joined the GIS on October 1, 1999 as Assistant Superintendent and rose through the senior level ranks by dint of hard work to become an Assistant Director of Immigration.

He said he acted in the position of Deputy Director of Immigration, Legal, for 11 years, in contravention of Public Service Regulations and without any extra remuneration or compensation, except being paid an acting allowance of GH¢190 a month.

It was his assertion that his interdiction and the actions of the GIS, with regard to his interdiction, were tantamount to constructive dismissal from the GIS, which contravened Article 191 of the Constitution, and had caused him great hardship and embarrassment.

He, is, therefore, seeking a declaration that his interdiction and the events that followed amount to a constructive dismissal and are, therefore, wrong, null and void and of no legal effect because they are inconsistent and contravened the 1992 Constitution.