Comply with new Investment Act - Veep tells companies
The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has called on companies to comply with the new Ghana Investment Act, which enjoins them to give the first option to Ghanaians in employment.
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He said following the promulgation of the act, the government had reviewed immigrant quotas to provide more employment for Ghanaians.
The new law, he said, among other things, provided that investors in the retail sector employ at least 10 Ghanaians.
Mr Amissah-Arthur made the call when he reviewed the seventh Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) graduation parade at Assin Fosu in the Central Region yesterday.
Ninety-six cadets, including four Liberian immigration officers, passed out after six months of intensive training. Officer Cadet Joyce Mawuena Adjah emerged the Overall Best Cadet.
Work permits
Addressing the parade, Mr Amissah-Arthur urged the GIS to ensure that in processing application for work permits, the provisions of the investment laws were not abused.
The Vice-President said the government was concerned about the employment of expatriates on jobs that Ghanaians had the requisite qualification to do.
“The new act confronts this issue and explicitly provides that citizens of Ghana be given the first option when employment is being considered,” he stressed.
One of the key objectives of the investment promotion law, Mr Amissah-Arthur said, was the creation of employment for Ghanaians and underscored the need for the GIS and all stakeholder agencies to ensure strict compliance with those essential provisions of the Act in order not to undermine its objective.
Development of Academy
The Vice-President said plans to transform the GIS Academy and Training School into a sub-regional training centre had begun. It had already trained 150 recruits for the Liberian Bureau of Immigration and Naturalisation (BIN)
He said with the support of the European Union (EU) and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), new structures and facilities had been completed and inaugurated.
Mr Amissah-Arthur said the GIS was a key agent for securing the nation and developing the country’s economy.
“A strong and effective immigration service is required to secure our borders and frontiers in order to ensure that immigrants comply with our residence and employment laws,” he stressed.
He noted that the qualities of leadership and command that had been instilled in the graduating officers would manifest in how they carried out their assigned roles.
In a message to the graduating cadets, the Commandant of the Ghana Immigration Service Academy and Training School, Mr Adi Isaac Luortey, urged them to make good use of the knowledge and skills they acquired during the training wherever they would be posted to serve.
