Outgoing President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo has lauded Ghana as the only state that has not experienced a terrorist attack in a troubled West African sub-region.
He said his government had put measures in place including the provision of adequate funding to ensure the security of the state’s borders.
Speaking in Parliament during his last State of the Nation Address, the president noted that the government’s most fundamental duty was the protect its citizens, a task his government had successfully performed in the last eight years.
“Mr. Speaker, the first responsibility of the government is the safety and security of its state and its people. I am happy to report that our country’s territorial integrity is intact and all our borders are secured.
“In a neighbourhood of widespread instability, it is no longer an assumption we can make that our land will be safe and secure. Ghana, by the grace of God remains the only country in the world that has not fallen victim to terrorist violence,” he averred.
Mr. Akufo-Addo indicated that it “had taken a lot of money” to enable government achieve the goal of providing security from what he described as the “ravages” of terrorism.
According to the United Nations, the West African sub-region faces an extremely high terrorist threat. This is as a result of increased activity of Islamic extremist groups operating in the area including Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).
Efforts by governments in the sub-region to combat these terrorist acts have proven challenging owing to security financing and ample resources.
