Regional News of Tuesday, 9 February 2016

Source: GNA

Bring home soldiers on UN peace keeping missions

The Most Reverend Dr. Daniel Yinkah-Sarfo, Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Province of West Africa, has called on the government to bring back home soldiers deployed on United Nations (UN) peace keeping missions to beef up the nation’s security.

He said the services of these officers and men were needed amid the heightened threats of terrorism in the West African sub-region.

The Most Rev Dr. Yinkah-Sarfo, a former Major of the Ghana Armed Forces, made reference to the recent terrorist attack on an upscale hotel in Ougadougou, the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso, skirmishes between illegal miners and the AngloGold mining company, the menace of nomadic Fulani herdsman, serial and contract killing and said these should not be underestimated.

Making the call through the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, he said he saw no point to keep the soldiers on foreign missions when all appear not to be well with security at home.

His sentiments come on the heels of the statement by a security expert, Dr. Kwesi Enin that “our security preparation against terrorism is not enough in the face of the fragile security situation in the sub-region”.

Metropolitan Archbishop Yinkah-Sarfo served in the military for a-decade-and a-half years and was decorated with three UN medals alongside one ECOMOG medal in peace keeping.