Mahama links Sahel crisis to Gaddafi's fall and warns Ghana is not immune to attack

Pinned summary · as of 06:12

President John Dramani Mahama has told a New York audience that instability in the Sahel began when Muammar Gaddafi was removed from power in Libya, a step he attributed to the United States and France. He added that Ghana itself is exposed to the threat of a terrorist attack and is putting more money into defence.

What we know

• Mahama addressed an audience in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and dwelt on security in the Sahel.
• He said the Sahel's troubles started with the removal of Gaddafi, an action he ascribed to America and France, and that the fall of the Libyan state turned the country into a route for weapons and fighters heading into West Africa.
• The President described the military takeovers in the Sahel as a result of the security collapse and not its origin, saying soldiers seized power because they felt civilian governments were failing against terrorists while the army lost men and morale.
• Mahama said his government made better ties with the Sahel states an early priority, pointing to ethnic groups that live on both sides of the borders.
• He said Ghana's borders remain open and that goods continue to move through Ghanaian ports.
• The President said the Sahel states cannot beat terrorism unaided and need backing from the region and the wider world, and that ECOWAS is ready to work with them.
• Mahama warned that Ghana is exposed to attack, saying "maybe it's a question of when, not if".
• He said Ghana is directing more funds to defence at the cost of spending he would prefer to make on education and health, and is stepping up surveillance and intelligence exchange, including with Burkina Faso.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Reports differ on the setting. Graphic Online described the event as "A Conversation with President Mahama" held on Friday, 25 September, while The Vaultz News said he spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations during a week of engagements around the 81st General Assembly.
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  Graphic Online reported that Mahama linked the takeovers to sanctions imposed by ECOWAS, after which, he said, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger quit the bloc and formed the Alliance of Sahel States. That account was not repeated elsewhere.
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  According to Graphic Online, Mahama said Ghana also shares intelligence with the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States, and tied Sahel security to his plans for the African Union, which Ghana is due to chair. He called for the union to move beyond its founding liberation purpose and to make the continental free trade area work through roads, railways and direct shipping links.
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  The Vaultz News reported that Mahama traced a home-grown insurgency in northern Mali, driven by communities seeking an autonomous region called Azawad, and said Libyan weapons and seasoned fighters turned it into a regional emergency. It also reported him saying militants driven out of Syria found refuge along the same route.
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  The Vaultz News reported Mahama as saying ties with the Sahel states have grown stronger over the past year, that ECOWAS is in talks with the Alliance of Sahel States, that Washington has approached Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, and that easing tension between Algeria and Mali matters for counterterrorism. Those remarks were not carried by other reports.
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  The Vaultz News quoted Mahama as saying Togo, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire have already suffered attacks, and as urging his American audience to keep faith with the three Sahelian states. It also said Ghanaian and Burkinabe intelligence services are tracking fighters' movements and sharing information.

Why it matters for Ghana

Ghana's northern border lies close to the areas affected by militant violence, and the President's remarks signal that security spending is competing with schools and hospitals for public money. Traders and transporters relying on routes through Ghanaian ports to landlocked neighbours also have a stake in the borders staying open, as he said they are.