BE HOSPITABLE BUT VIGILANT (Page 29)

Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi

THE Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Mr E. O. Lamptey, has urged residents of the Kumasi metropolis and its surrounding areas to extend their usual Ghanaian hospitality to all the players, team officials and supporters of the teams that will be hosted in Kumasi during the Ghana 2008 tournament to enhance its success.
He, however, cautioned them to be extra vigilant and collaborate with the security apparatus to ensure that the visitors who would troop into the metropolis would not take advantage of the prevailing serene atmosphere to commit crimes that would undermine internal security.
Egypt, Cameroun, Zambia and The Sudan will be based in Kumasi to vie for honours in the preliminary stages.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview on the challenges the security apparatus would face as Ghana hosted the continental soccer tournament, Mr Lamptey said security issues were a shared responsibility and urged the residents to be vigilant and not ignore anything that would undermine the internal security of the nation.
“In line with our motto — friendship with vigilance — I entreat residents of the metropolis to extend the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality to the visitors but they should also be very vigilant and report all people with questionable characters and behaviour to the security apparatus for decisive action to be taken,” he advised.
He stressed that projecting the country’s image through sports was very important, adding, “But we can neither sacrifice our internal security nor compromise it”.
He said some GIS officers from the districts in the region had been drafted to the Kumasi metropolis to augment the efforts of their compatriots in effectively and efficiently monitoring soccer fans who would be based in Kumasi.
He said they had also been provided with the necessary logistics and equipment which would enhance their operations and, therefore, gave the assurance that the officers would be positioned at all entry and vantage points within the metropolis to provide the visitors with adequate security.
“We will be at the entry points around the clock to check the number of visitors, their addresses and other documents that will enable us to monitor them effectively and ensure that they do not overstay their visit after the tournament,” he stressed.
“We have the mechanism to check visitors who will troop in from neighbouring countries but we need the assistance of the citizenry to monitor their activities to prevent any of them from committing any crime that will disturb internal stability and peace,” he said.
Mr Lamptey also urged hoteliers to keep proper records of all visitors who would lodge at their facilities to enable the security apparatus to effectively monitor and protect them.
He said the real challenge of the tournament would emerge at the end of the tournament because potential trouble makers would like to hide at secluded areas in the metropolis to commit crimes that could affect the prevailing peace, adding, “So we would step up security and flush out such people, for which reason we need your co-operation in that regard.”