Security analyst, Dr. Adam Bonna says Ghana needs to go back to the idea of the Accra Initiative which aims to collaborate with countries within the sub-region in order to improve security on its borders.
The Islamist rebels fighting in Burkina Faso are discreetly using Ghana’s north as a logistical and medical rear base to sustain their insurgency, seven sources told Reuters, a move that could help them expand their footprint in West Africa.
The sources, which include Ghanaian security officials and regional diplomats, said Ghanaian authorities appeared to be mostly turning a blind eye to the rebels crossing over from neighbouring Burkina Faso to stock up on food, fuel, and even explosives, as well as getting injured fighters treated in hospital.
But they said that approach, while so far sparing Ghana from the kind of deadly Islamist attacks that have plagued its neighbours, risks allowing militants to put down roots in the country and recruit in some marginalized local communities.
Ghana shares a 600 km (372 mile) border with Burkina Faso, the country at the heart of an insurgency that has killed thousands, displaced millions and, according to some experts, turned the Sahel region into the epicentre of global terrorism as factions loyal to al Qaeda and Islamic State expand their presence.
Commenting on the development on Starr Midday News with Lantam Papanko, Mr. Bonaa made a suggestion that the countries within the Sahel region need to go back to the idea of the Accra Initiative.
“We need to collaborate with the neighbouring countries. We need to go back to the idea of the Accra Initiative.
“The idea of the Accra Initiative was for us to collaborate as a people within the sub-region that is suffering, you know, terrorism and all that. But after the coups within the sub-region, what happened was that some of the countries, including Burkina Faso, have written to cede from the ECOWAS block. So, it makes it very difficult for note-sharing”, Dr. Bonaa stated.
He further suggested that the boarder community members must be trained to be able to identify terrorist and report them to authorities as soon as they fish them out.
The Accra Initiative is a cooperative and collaborative security mechanism between seven West African countries as they face increasing threats and attacks from Islamist militants across their northern borders in Burkina Faso and Niger and other countries in the Sahel region.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Jasmine Adjei Anyetei
