The Minister of National Security, Mr Albert Kan- Dapaah, has advocated homegrown initiatives in curbing security threats in West Africa.
Mr Kan-Dapaah stressed that developments in West Africa were “emblematic of the chaos and crisis” that had characterised the world in the past decade; the magnitude of which remains unprecedented since the end of the cold war.
He was speaking during a lecture at the African Studies Centre, University of Florida in the USA, on the theme: ‘Ensuring Security and Democracy in West Africa: Ghana’s Role in Regional and International Cooperation’.
Mr Kan-Dapaah, however, noted the drastic deviation in motivations of perpetrators of insecurity in the region, underscoring the peculiar challenge in the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin, among others.
Highlighting the threats to Ghana and emphasising the necessity for distinct counter approaches, Mr Dapaah said, “Of particular concern is the southward drift of the terrorist threat from the Sahel region to Coastal West African states along the Gulf of Guinea. For the first time, littoral States, such as Togo and Benin, which were once considered to be Police States impervious to terrorist attacks, recorded more than 40 deaths each from terrorism in 2023. The result of this development is that with the exception of Ghana, all Coastal West African States along the Gulf of Guinea have recorded a terrorist attack.”
In light of the complexities, the National Security Minister advocated the implementation of “homegrown initiatives anchored on a sub-regional cooperation framework in the fight against terrorism.”
He emphasised Ghana’s unique position as a bastion of democracy and stability within the region, particularly as neighbouring countries such as Togo face risks of democratic regression.
Furthermore, Mr Dapaah stressed the importance of bolstering support for ECOWAS and the Ghana-led Accra Initiative to tackle the diverse array of challenges confronting the region. Ranging from unemployment to governance deficiencies to the scourge of terrorism, pointing out that the challenges necessitated both strategic kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to effectively mitigate trans-boundary threats while simultaneously addressing internal issues.
The minister urged students and the entire academic community to intensify their research efforts, seeking measures to achieve “a peaceful and stable West African region where democracy thrives and terrorism becomes a thing of the past.”
He called on development partners to tailor their interventions to support local initiatives aimed at fostering stability within the region.
BY TIMES REPORTER