ACQUIRE INDEPTH KNOWLEDGE ON ECOWAS, BE SENSITIVE OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT 3rd MAY, 2023

 A day’s workshop on ECOWAS protocols, border security and terrorism has ended in Paga, capital of the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, with a call on participants and the citizenry to make conscious efforts to acquire in-depth knowledge on the various ECOWAS Protocols on Democracy and Good Governance, Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services as well as, Trade Facilitation.

The workshop was under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration with Media Response, as a collaborator and assistance from the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council.

The Coordinating Director, Multilateral and International Oganisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ambassador Mrs. Perpetua Dufu who made the call, said such knowledge will enable Ghanaians to take advantage of the benefits that come with Ghana’s membership of the Regional Body. She added that since its establishment in 1975, the objective of ECOWAS has been to promote economic cooperation among member states in order to raise living standards and promote economic development, for the benefit of its people and it has since not departed from that.

Ambassador Mrs. Perpetua Dufu being interviewed

Ambassador Dufu noted that, the workshop formed part of a series of nationwide sensitization workshops and aimed at exploring issues related to conflict management, the role of ECOWAS in conflict management, reconstruction and peace building in the Region and how citizens can stay safe during conflict situations. She said the workshop had come at an opportune time, considering the disturbing developments in the Sub-Regional areas of Guinea, Mali and particularly, Burkina Faso with the resultant influx of displaced persons across Ghana’s borders.

Mrs. Dufu entreated Ghanaians to be very sensitive to happenings in the environment within which they find themselves, be vigilant at all times and speak to the right state agencies the moment they notice things out of the usual in their neighbourhoods. The aggregate support of individual citizens in aid of the work of the security agencies would help in maintaining political stability, peace and security; which are prerequisites to ECOWAS achieving its Regional Integration goals.

The Foreign Affairs Officer noted that, Ghana is always seen as a beacon of democracy across the continent and this partly explains why over the years, the country has played host to several thousands of refugees whenever there was turmoil in nations within the sub-region. She disclosed that currently, Ghana is hosting some 4,000 refugees from Burkina Faso alone, living in communities in the northern borders and added that, this had both direct and indirect implications for Ghana. It is therefore on the back of this that, she charged citizens to be assertive and always be alive to the mantra; “if you see something, say something” so as to avert any possible attacks on the country.

Upper East Regional Coordinating Director, Alhaji Inusah Abubakari who spoke on behalf of the Regional Minister revealed that, the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) for its part, has been meeting regularly to assess the overall security situation of the region, informed by which certain mitigating actions are rolled out. He added that, the REGSEC had also been engaging stakeholders including the regional chapter of the Ghana Hoteliers Association, demanding of them to furnish the REGSEC with details of any suspicious characters that lodge at their facilities.

Alhaji Inusah Abubakari interacting with the media

 

According to Alhaji Abubakari, the region’s security situation is a peculiar one because aside the threat from external quarters, “we also have internal conflicts like what is happening in Bawku; the tendency for these extremists to take advantage of the internal conflict to infiltrate is very very high and therefore, were are appealing to the feuding factions in the Bawku conflict to lay down their arms and let us dialogue”.

He said recognizing the porous nature of the region’s borders, the Ministry of National Security presented a number of pick-up vehicles and motor bikes to key security agencies including the military, the Police, National Investigations Bureau [NIB] and the Ghana Immigration Service to help deal with the menace. Additionally, REGSEC also held meetings with the Fulani community and sensitized them on the need to expose their kinsmen across the border communities, who might have been lured into the ranks of the jihadists.

Giving an overview of ECOWAS and the Regional Integration Bureau, Media Response Director, Mr. Samuel Dodoo stated that ECOWAS’ Vision 2020 was very commendable as it is aimed at transforming the Regional Body from an “ECOWAS of States” to an “ECOWAS of People”. This he believes will no doubt be a catalyst in galvanizing grassroots interest and support for the regional integration process.

Participants in a group picture

Dr. Ernest K. Asiedu of the National Centre for Coordination of Early Warning and Response Mechanism [NCCRM] also gave a presentation on early warning signs in preventing conflicts and held that, conflict will always be found in society as the basis for conflict may vary from personal to racial, class to political and international. He disclosed that the components of the early warning signs could be broadly classified into three namely; Structure, Accelerator and Trigger.

Participants at the workshop included the chief executives from the Kassena-Nankana West, Hon. Gerard Ataogye and his counterparts from Bongo and the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, officers from the security agencies, staff from the RCC and some identifiable groups such as the Paga Youth Association among others. The Foreign Affairs team has a similar sensitization meeting tomorrow, Thursday May 4, 2023 with stakeholders in Zebila in the Bawku West District, which also shares borders with Burkina Faso.