We live in an increasingly dangerous world and this fact must not be lost on those in charge of affairs of the state. A section of Ghanaians expressed rightfully concerns when President John Dramani Mahama in his State of the Nation address to Parliament last month referred to America as an “ally” of Ghana.
That reference was made in connection with the Gtmo—two detainees—who Ghana graciously imported from US prisons under very questionable circumstances. Ghana has been and remains a key part of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In fact our founding President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was one of the five promoters of the movement during its formation in 1961 with the agenda to stay the middle course (for states in the developing world) during the Cold War era of the Western and Eastern blocs.
This policy of neutrality has shaped Ghana’s foreign policy and made it possible for us to engage with every nation on the face of the earth without encountering any problems.
With the threat of terror looming all around us it is important we choose carefully who our friends.
We are not calling for government to sever ties with any country but be tactical in our dealings. We would want to believe that the president inadvertently referred to America as an ally instead of simply saying there is a working relationship of mutual interest with the USA.
On hindsight the President would have changed the terminology “ally” for more apt one.
Terrorism has gotten to a stage where ‘the enemy’ is global. A nation’s action in one country or even on its own soil can elicit response from terror groups all over the world.
RUSSIA got hit on home soil recently for its involvement in conducting air raids in faraway Syria. America, the UK and Germany have all suffered similar fate.
It is against this backdrop that our governments ought to be measured in their actions. The entire West Africa sub-region now sits on tenterhooks over possible attack by terrorists affiliated to either the dreaded ISIS or Al-Qaeda militant groups.
Terrorists operate with the mindset that my enemy’s friend is my enemy. The Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Mali one may say are all victims of this sought of warped way of looking at issues.
They are simply paying for the ‘sins of their father—France. And now that we know Ghana faces an imminent threat, all necessary security measures must be taken to neutralise that threat. But going forward we urge all state actors to be careful of their utterances.
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