Reports say that while rumours in the sub-region seem to suggest that Ghana is Is Ghana under threat of mercenary attack? The "rumours" in the sub-region seem to suggest so. With this in mind or not, the President of the Republic of Ghana last week asked Ghana's security agencies manning Ghana's borders to be more "vigilant" to prevent "infiltrators" from coming into the country to destabilise the country's peace and stability.
Around the time the President was calling for vigilance, there was much talk in the media of an alleged mercenary plans to attack Ghana from her sub-regional neighbour(s). The story which was carried in The Statesman was taken from a Liberian newspaper The Analyst.
Even before the dust from that particular bombshell had subsided, ADM has also been receiving information that mercenaries are preparing to strike, using Cote d'Ivoire as their staging post. On the afternoon of Thursday August 19 2004, ADM received a call from an individual with security and intelligence connections in the sub-region.
He had a pressing report to divulge, he said.
He told ADM that the story of the alleged intended mercenary attack on Ghana had filtered to some of his sources in Cote d'Ivoire and they had got back to him post haste because of the urgency of the situation. His source, whom he described as a "Baule speaking officer" in the Ivorian military had called to tell him that Ghana should not take the threat lightly because some malcontents were indeed trying to use the Ivorian territory to destabilise Ghana to spoil the country's record as the only beacon of hope in a generally unstable sub-region.
The intension, he said is to disrupt Ghana's electoral process and plunge the nation into a major political crisis similar to what is taking place in Cote d'Ivoire.
This is the first time that a non-coup civilian government is taking Ghana to elections after serving its four year term. Some people do not like that and would want this seamless democratic process to be disturbed in these few months left for the polls.
From September to the end of December may yet prove one of the most trying periods in Ghana's history if the president's call for vigilance is taken lightly.
Ghanaians are yet to be told the full security implications of Minority Leader Alban Bagbin's attempt to involve sub-regional leaders in Ghana's internal politics. The Minority Leader may yet have more to disclose.
ADM has since passed on its report to the appropriate intelligence agency.