Africa risks becoming hub of terrorist groups – Kan-Dapaah
The Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah has expressed worry about how the entire West African Region risks becoming a theatre of operation for the Terrorist Groups.
According to him, “Amidst the deteriorating terrorist threat situation, a strong wave of democratic reversals that has so far blown across some West African States continues to exacerbate the already precarious security situation in the West African Region”.
He explained that “Since August 2020, a total of six successful coups have occurred in the region—two in Mali, two in Burkina Faso, one in Guinea and one in Niger. In addition, two failed coup attempts were recorded in the Gambia and Guinea Bissau in 2023”.
The Minister said this when speaking at the 2024 Civil Service Week and 2023 Awards Ceremony held at the Accra International Conference Centre over the weekend where he noted that it is imperative to note that no country within the West African region is completely immune to the terrorist onslaught.
Speaking on the theme: Combating Threats to Sub-regional Peace and Security: Perspectives of the Civil Service’, he added that “From their base in Mali, the terrorists can penetrate Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. From their base in Burkina Faso, the terrorists can enter Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Liberia.
Albert Kan-Dapaah explains “Although Ghana has not recorded a terrorist attack, we continue to experience the indirect impact of the menace due to our proximity to Burkina Faso. Intensified terrorist attacks in southern Burkina Faso continue to displace Burkinabes into the northern part of Ghana, a development that is fast evolving into a huge refugee crisis. Remember Burkina Faso, on the map, sits on all of our 630 km northern border. And as they say, when your next-door neighbour’s house is on fire, you need to yourself in readiness”.
Sharing some Security Threats issues, he noted that from Europe where the war in Ukraine is disrupting and upending the existing geopolitical order, to the Middle East where the Israeli offensive in Gaza is threatening to implode into an unprecedented global conflict, the foundations of global peace and security are being shaken.
“But on the African continent, and in particular, the West African region where Ghana is located, the security situation driven by terrorism and violent extremism is fast deteriorating at an unimaginable rate” he added.
He further noted that the 2024 edition of the Global Terrorist Index report revealed that the Sahel region of West Africa has become the epicentre of terrorism in the world, recording 26% of all terrorist attacks that occurred in 2023 and accounting for almost half of all terrorist-related deaths in the world.
“Burkina Faso, our neighbours to the north, for the first time emerged as the country most impacted by terrorism in the world, a position that was occupied by Afghanistan in previous years. The data further suggests that a quarter of all deaths from terrorism in the world occurred in Burkina Faso” he added.
Giving some statistics, he noted that “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 impervious to terrorist attacks, recorded more than 40 deaths each from terrorism in 2023. The result of this development is that, except Ghana, all Coastal West African States along the Gulf of Guinea have recorded a terrorist attack”.
He expressed that it is also important to emphasise that the nature of the terrorist threat that confronts West Africa is completely different from the kind of terrorist threat that plays out in the Western world.
He said In the United States of America and Europe for instance, terrorist groups embark on their activities primarily to cause fear and panic. But in West Africa, the terrorist groups act to seize and take over the thetakingnance of States.
He added that “In Burkina Faso for instance, an estimated 60% of the country’s territory has been taken over by the terrorist groups. Terrorist commanders rather than governors or regional ministers are in charge of the day-to-day administration of the captured regions”.
He noted that the situation in Burkina Faso clearly shows that beyond its adverse impact on the lives and livelihood of the citizenry, terrorism is threatening the territorial integrity and the very survival of States in West Africa.
The National Security Minister added that incidentally, the majority of the West African countries including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger that have recorded coups in the past four years are the very same States most affected by terrorism.
“The failure to effectively fight terrorism was mentioned by all coup leaders in the aforementioned countries as a major reason underlying their actions to overthrow the civilian governments” the Minister underscored.
Comments (0)