Politics

Sources suggest Sahel jihadis finding safety in Ghana

Published

2 months ago

October 24, 2024

According to seven sources cited by Reuters, Islamist militants in Burkina Faso are covertly utilising Ghana’s north as a medical and logistical rear camp to maintain their insurgency. This could allow them to increase their presence in West Africa.

According to the sources, which include regional diplomats and Ghanaian security officials, Ghanaian authorities seem to be largely ignoring the insurgents who are crossing over from neighbouring Burkina Faso to obtain food, fuel, and even explosives, as well as to receive medical attention for wounded fighters.

However, they said that strategy runs the risk of enabling terrorists to establish themselves in Ghana and recruit in some marginalised local areas, even though it has so far spared the country from the kind of devastating Islamist attacks that have afflicted its neighbours.

Ghana and Burkina Faso, which is at the centre of an insurgency that has killed thousands, displaced millions, and, according to some experts, made the Sahel region the epicentre of global terrorism as groups loyal to al Qaeda and Islamic State increase their presence, share a 600-kilometre (372-mile) border.

With the rise of JNIM, a pro-al Qaeda organisation, Burkina Faso has lost control of more than half of its territory. This week, a JNIM senior told French station RFI that the organization’s goal was to expand into Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Unlike Benin and Togo, Ghana has not experienced a significant attack.

Ghana’s ambassador to Burkina Faso, Boniface Gambila Adagbila, told Reuters that the militants were exploiting Ghana’s open borders and viewed the country as a “haven.”

However, he refuted claims that the government had inadvertently reached a non-aggression pact with the jihadists.

According to him, Ghana and Burkina Faso were collaborating to “flush them out”.

Since the beginning of October, attacks on companies have resulted in at least three fatalities and four injuries, according to an official.

Related Topics:Featured Ghana Sahel jihadis

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Politics

Officials report fight between Somalia’s Jubbaland region, central govt

Published

12 hours ago

December 11, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Jubbaland staged an election against the advice of the Mogadishu administration, officials claimed on Wednesday that fighting had broken out between the federal government and the semi-autonomous Jubbaland region of Somalia.

“This morning, federal forces from Mogadishu in Ras Kamboni, using drones, attacked Jubbaland forces,” Adan Ahmed Haji, assistant security minister of Jubbaland, told a press conference in Jubbaland’s capital Kismayu.

Response requests were not immediately answered by Interior Minister Yusuf Ali or Information Minister Daud Aweis of the national administration.

Jubbaland, one of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous republics that borders Ethiopia and Kenya, elected regional president Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe to a third term in late November.

Jubbaland has the potential to be one of Somalia’s richest districts due to its location and natural resources, but for more than 20 years, violence has kept it permanently unsettled.

There are no explicit guidelines in the Somali constitution regarding the establishment of recently formed federal entities or their interactions with the national government.

Politics

Ghana’s ex-president Mahama returns to power after close contest with former VP

Published

3 days ago

December 8, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following his challenger Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s concession on Sunday, former Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama, has made a political comeback by winning the country’s presidential election.

In a region where voters are seeking leadership change due to economic hardship, rising inflation, and depreciating local currency, the outcome of Ghana’s general election is yet another setback for the ruling party.

The 66-year-old Mahama, who presided over Ghana as president from 2012 to 2016, presented Bawumia as carrying on the policies that caused the country to experience its worst economic crisis in a generation.

After defaulting on most of its foreign debt, the world’s second-largest cocoa grower and significant gold producer agreed with the IMF last year for a $3 billion rescue.

“I have, this morning, received a congratulatory call from my brother Dr. Bawumia, following my emphatic victory in Saturday’s election. Thank you, Ghana,” Mahama said in a post on X social media.

Bawumia told a news conference from his home that he had contacted Mahama to congratulate him and that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mahama’s party, had also won the legislative election.

“The data from our internal collation of the election results indicate that former President John Dramani Mahama has won the presidential election decisively,” Bawumia said, adding that NDC also won the parliamentary election.

Bawumia said that to reduce tensions, he gave in before to the official outcome.

Scuffles had been reported in several local constituency centres before to his concession when polling station results were still being received.

“I am making this concession speech before the official announcement by the Electoral Commission to avoid further tension and preserve the peace of our country,” Bawumia said.

“It is important that the world investor community continues to believe in the peaceful and democratic character of Ghana,” he added.

Following Bawumia’s loss concession, hundreds of NDC supporters celebrated Sunday in the streets of Accra, the country’s capital.

According to preliminary findings, Mahama and the NDC party had a strong lead. Joy News stated that after preliminary results from 68 of 276 seats were tabulated, Mahama had more than 53% of the vote compared to Bawumia’s 45.16%.

Sammy Gyamfi, the national spokesman for the NDC, stated at a press conference on Sunday before Bawumia’s concession that Mahama was leading with around 56% based on preliminary internally collated figures from 38,896 of the 40,976 voting stations. According to him, the party seemed to be headed for about 185 of the 276 seats in Parliament.