The Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has strongly urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to halt preparations for sending Ghanaian troops to Niger as part of a potential ECOWAS military intervention.

After the coup in Niger, West African leaders directed the deployment of a 'standby force' to restore democracy.

In a strongly-worded Facebook post, Mr. Ablakwa said "Akufo-Addo’s refusal to submit his Niger Policy to Parliament for thorough scrutiny by the people’s elected representatives is most undemocratic and awfully reckless".

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I reiterate our demand on President Akufo-Addo to immediately stop all his preparatory mobilization towards deploying Ghanaian soldiers for an ECOWAS military intervention in Niger.

Akufo-Addo’s refusal to submit his Niger Policy to Parliament for thorough scrutiny by the people’s elected representatives is most undemocratic and awfully reckless.

West African leaders who purport to be lecturing Niger on democracy must be seen leading by example at home.
Ghana’s gallant soldiers must be kept far away from the looming bloodbath and escalating geopolitical confrontation which is bound to explode with far reaching consequences for stability in an already volatile region.

Also worthy of consideration is the fact that Ghana’s bankrupt economy could be used as a predictable excuse by President Akufo-Addo as Commander-in-Chief to deny the Ghana Armed Forces the full compliment of materiel, equipment and logistics.

ECOWAS leaders ought to stop the warmongering and give diplomacy and constructive dialogue a chance. The Niger crisis can be resolved without violence and bloodshed.

But more fundamentally, African leaders must reflect on the causes of these coups and begin to take urgent concrete steps to prevent more military takeovers. 6 coups in 3 years can only mean that Africa appears to be making a return to the coup era of the 1960s to 1980s.

Let’s shift focus from the symptoms and start addressing the real issues of bad leadership, corruption, endemic poverty, democracy that works only for a few cronies and fat cats, massive unemployment, lack of opportunity, state-capture, constitutional manipulation, compromised judiciaries, discredited institutions, neo-colonial exploitation and a disunited Africa.

Niger is not the first; and it may not be the last without an honest, appropriate, introspective, causative, leadership response.