GHAPEA Calls For Gov’t Support & Recognition As Face Of Legal Migration In Ghana
The Ghana Association of Private Employment Agencies (GHAPEA) has made a strong appeal to government authorities, media and the general public to recognize them as the face of legal migration in Ghana.
Their appeal stems from the continual negative operations of illegal agencies that is causing harm to Ghana’s good reputation and hindering the progress of the youth.
On behalf of GHAPEA, Alhaji Saeed A.M. Shereef who is the chairman of the group pleaded with government and all other concerned authorities to help them eliminate the operations of illegal agencies.
“We hereby plead with the government and all other concerned authorities to help us eliminate these unscrupulous illegal operators, who are not only causing harm to Ghana’s good reputation and to the dignity of Ghanaians but also pushing us out of business”, Alhaji Saeed A.M. Shereef said.
In an interaction with Peacefmonline.com, the Chairman of GHAPEA noted that the association is “working assiduously to put itself in order to be able to achieve its aims and objectives, and to be able to surmount the problems of unemployment and illegal migration in the country.”
It was on this note that he called to the three segments of the society to recognize them and appealed to “government and all other stakeholders to help us grow stronger for us to help the government, in return, to bring sanity to the foreign recruitment and migration sector, on the one hand, and to bring gainful employment to Ghanaians, on the other.”
Full statement below…
Good day members of the media fraternity,
It’s a great pleasure and a big honor meeting with you today. We, the Ghana Association of the Private Employment Agencies (GHAPEA), see you the media as true partners in championing the cause of legal migration, which GHAPEA solely represents in Ghana.
We are proud and honored to be the ‘face of legal migration’ here in Ghana, just as we are for being one of the major sources of providing gainful employment to the youth of Ghana, our beloved country, which, like all other countries of the world, is struggling with high rate of unemployment.
GHAPEA was established on July 15, 2015, in the corridors of the Ghana Parliament, upon the directives of the then parliamentary Select Committee for Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises, since then, our Association has been working assiduously to put itself in order to be able to achieve its aims and objectives, and to be able to surmount the problems of unemployment and illegal migration in the country.
Currently with 26 members out of a total 52 agencies licensed with the Ghana Labor Department, GHAPEA has many success stories. These include:
·Within the first six month of its establishment, GHAPEA successfully wrote and started implementing its own constitution and code of ethics.
·GHAPEA was officially inaugurated after just a year of its establishment by the then Minister of Employment and Labor Relations, Hon. Haruna Idrissu, MP.
·GHAPEA has successfully established good relations with some of the key stakeholders of legal migration – The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations – Headed by the Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, MP and Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, the Ghana Labor Department, the International Organization for Interior (AHTU) of the Criminal Investigations Department, Police Headquarters – Accra, etc.
·Members of GHAPEA have successfully secured decent jobs with lucrative remunerations for hundreds of Ghanaians who are now earning good wages and able to take good care of their families back home here in Ghana, therefore contributing positively and immensely to the socio-economic development of our dear country, Ghana.
CHALLENGES:
Like any other organizations, GHAPEA, as a very young organization, has many challenges. The major challenges include:
·ILLEGAL AGENCIES: These illegal agencies operate with impunity, dragging the name of this noble business into disrepute and causing a lot of harm to our dear country, Ghana and Ghanaians.
We hereby plead with the government and all other concerned authorities to help us eliminate these unscrupulous illegal operators, who are not only causing harm to Ghana’s good reputation and to the dignity of Ghanaians but also pushing us out of business.
·RECOGNITION BY GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES, MEDIA &GENERAL PUBLIC
It’s very worrying to us to realize that many government authorities and stakeholders do not know or do not recognize the existence of GHAPEA. Many stakeholders meetings have been held in the past without GHAPEA being invited for vital contributions from us.
Even the media, in some ways, tend to put GHAPEA on the same platform with the illegal agencies. Similarly, the general public has been either misinformed or inadequately informed about us.
·APPEAL:
We are hereby appealing to these three segments of the society to recognize us as the face of legal migration that we are in Ghana.
We appeal to the government and all other stakeholders to help us grow stronger for us to help the government, in return, to bring sanity to the foreign recruitment and migration sector, on the one hand, and to bring gainful employment to Ghanaians, on the other.
We are also appealing to the media to help set the record straight. The media should help us educate the general public for them to know the difference between LEGAL MIGRATION, which GHAPEA and represents, and the ILLEGAL MIGRATION, represented by the illegal agents, who, according to our research findings, are now over 270 in number.
We are also appealing to the general public to be wary of those illegal agencies. Anybody who intends to migrate for greener pastures must do so legally through any of the 26 members of GHAPEA for safe and comfortable migration. They must first contact the Ghana Labor Department to verify the status of the agency before dealing with them.
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