General News of Wednesday, 23 March 2016

Source: GNA

Let's fight terrorism collectively – Mahama

President Mahama and Alhassane Ouattara President Mahama and Alhassane Ouattara

President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday called on African countries to be vigilant in order to ward off any imminent terrorists attacks in the region.

“We live in dangerous times and we therefore need to be more vigilant by sharing useful information that will help us resist any security threats in our countries.”

President Mahama who is primarily in the Ivorian capital to attend the fourth African Chief Executive Officers'(CEO) forum took time to call on President Alassane Quattara of Cote d’ Ivoire to commiserate with them for the recent death of 19 people at Grand Bassa terrorist attacks.

The attacks followed a similar attack on a prominent hotel in Ougadougou, capital of the Republic of Burkina Faso a couple of months ago.

President Mahama said although he sent a delegation as soon as the attacks occurred, it was also fair for him to console his Ivorian counterpart, once he was in the country.

The President said once the attacks occurred in different dimensions in the sub-region, sharing of security tips was useful to ‘dismiss’ their common assailants in the sub-region.

He commended the security network in Cote d’ Ivoire for speedily dispatching the attackers and for restoring peace and calm in the country, just few days after the attacks.

The President said fighting terrorism collectively was paramount to pave way for economic growth and development in the African continent.

He said it was unfortunate that the attacks occurred at the time that West African countries were forging ahead for integration and gave the assurance that in spite of that, they would continue to put in workable measures that would propel them for high economic growth.

President Mahama called on the development partners to support with the elimination of such terrorist attacks to create enabling environment for the development of business and commerce in the region.

President Quattara on the other hand commended President Mahama for the support and called for closer ties that would help eliminate the canker from the continent.