Al Shabaab is on twitter, literally laughing its way to the bank for the senseless massacre of innocent civilians, among them a former chairman of Ghana’s council of state- Prof Kofi Awoonor. Former Attorney general Betty Mould- Iddrisu describes the African terrorist situation so aptly; ‘ terrorism has come to our (Ghanaian) homes.’ Now no one knows which mall would be mauled next by the marauding evil of terrorism.
What makes the situation more disheartening is the fear they create in public life; actually their ultimate goal. The fear that makes all fear to take them on. Already, many have advised against Ghana sending troops to Mali let alone Somalia. With the current horror, such people would be quick to advise the government thus; di wo fie asem. So how do we stop the deceptive agenda of evil minded people hiding behind the smokescreen of religion? This mind your own business will not help anybody. This was brought forcefully home when it was realized that a personal friend mine, working with the UNHCR was at the mall at the time of the incident. Thank God the Kwanyako man escaped unscathed. Terrorism everywhere is a threat to the peace everywhere. The need for all countries to fight it including Ghana, should be beyond debate by now. May be what should be on the discussion table should be strategy, not if we should fight or not.
Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso hit the nail right on the head when he called for the creation of an international military establishment not bearing the name of an individual country to tackle the barbarism. Precisely what Nkrumah had called for over half a century ago. This is the time to birth the Africa High Command.
On the 24th of May 1963, Ghana’s President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said, if Africa fails to unite, we shall perish together. He added that, if Africa remains as it was politically before independence, all the resentment against colonialism shall be marshaled against the African leadership. This is exactly what is happening.
From Al Shabab in Somalia/Kenya through Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria to Al Qaeda affiliates in the Sahelian Magrab covering Niger, Mali, Sudan etc, one of the key concerns of the outlaws is poverty, squalor and neglect by central governments in Africa. It is these conditions that Ghana must be wary of lest we get home grown terrorists. It is these conditions we could have fought effectively against if we had united economically against imperialism.
As it were, the problem is here and there is no time to waste. Military unity now. Let’s create the African High Command. Let’s unite or we perish together.