A security analyst and the Executive Director for the Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building, Adib Saani, has chided President Akufo-Addo over his comment on the Russian mercenaries in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
According to him, there is no point in the president discussion the decision of another sovereign country to seek support in fighting a threat to its nation.
Burkina Faso is a sovereign country and can decide to call on whoever to help it fight any threat to their nation, he stressed.
Full statement below.
Since independence, Ghana has maintained a non-aligned posture in the global political chess games between the East and the West. Our decision not to take sides has helped us gain respect and favor from both sides of the divide.
But it’s absolutely demeaning for the President, flanked by his ministers, to sit in front of a Secretary of State to report on Wagner, a group that has not in any way neither threatened to invade Ghana, nor has it done anything that poses any threat to the security of Ghana.
Burkina Faso is a sovereign country and can decide to call on whoever to help it fight any threat to their nation. When Ghana hosted the Americans through the defense cooperation agreement, no country in the sub-region complained. So why does our President make such a mockery of us by going to report on an issue that has nothing to do with us hence, bring us international disrepute.
Consequently, our diplomatic relations with Russia will be gravely affected due to the President’s unfortunate statement.
The statements will also negatively affect cooperation towards implementing various aspects of the Accra Initiative. The Burkinabes wouldn’t trust us again. So, would the Malians.
Major global political players such as the US, Britain, Turkey, Egypt, France, etc. all work with various mercenary groups in different parts of the world. Blackwater has been cited for various human rights violations including torture and killing of children in Iraq. The French have on several occasions negotiated and worked closely with militants in the Sahel for safety guarantees.
Adib Saani
Security Analyst
Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building
0244985099
