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Mr Elliot Edem Agbenorwu, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Ketu South has said the border closure occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the porous nature of Ghana’s land borders particularly the Ghana-Togo frontier.

Ghana’s borders (air, land and sea) were closed from midnight of Sunday, March 22 and have since remained shut as part of Presidential directives to prevent the importation of COVID-19 into the country.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the MCE described as worrying the current state of the border saying it could be devastating to the country in the event of any external insurgency.

“The border closure has exposed us as a country in the sense that we’re not in control of our borders, which means any external insurgence will land us in trouble.”

“Borders were ever closed, but this life-threatening COVID-19 disease made us to keenly monitor our borders to detect how porous they are and how foreign nationals can easily move in and out at the blind side of our security agencies.”

“Neighbouring Togo on their part, did well to dig trenches, construct feeder roads from Aflao to Segbe, allowing their security to patrol, and there’s also the barbed wire (which they open at will) all aimed at protecting their land borders. But on the Ghana side, no road, no buffer and no telecommunications service,” Mr Agbenorwu lamented.

The Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) Chairman therefore called on the government to take steps to address the lapses to secure all land borders in the municipality, the region and the country against unforeseen situations in future.

Mr Frederick Baah Duodu, Aflao Sector Commander, Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) said his outfit had made calls to GIS to construct boundary fences and patrol roads across the borderline.

He said his officers continued to risk their lives daily manning the numerous unapproved routes, which numbers keep growing and designated as “beats”, “pillars”, cemetery and the beach within the operational area of the Command.

He observed that most of the communities the unapproved routes were situated had no electricity and telecommunication services to facilitate effective monitoring and patrol.