By Christopher Arko
Accra, May 5, GNA – Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, Dean, Academic Affairs, Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, has warned that ungoverned border areas pose serious security risks and could enable extremist attacks.
He cited “Dollar Power,” an area in the Bole District as an example, where, according to him, over 90 percent of the people engaged in illegal mining are non-Ghanaians.
“If the terrorists are able to team up with them and they get a place to settle… they could use these places to attack the country, these are the things we must be looking at,” he said.
Dr. Antwi-Danso raised the concern in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) about emerging threats from extremist groups in neighbouring countries.
He expressed concern that such groups could exploit insecurity along Ghana’s borders to target the gold industry as a funding source.
Dr. Antwi-Danso, an International Relations Expert, also feared that extremist activities in the Sahel, especially Burkina Faso, could spill over into Bawku and worsen the chieftaincy conflict between the Kusasis and Mamprusis.
He said former combatants and jihadists could join displaced persons from Burkina Faso to cross Ghana’s porous borders and engage in extremist activities.
Dr. Antwi-Danso warned that poverty in the Bawku area, coupled with deteriorating economic conditions and the proliferation of arms, made the region vulnerable to criminal and jihadist influence.
He urged the government to prevent former combatants from entering conflict zones, saying their presence could destabilize the country.
“Terrorism thrives only where there is a fertile ground for such activity… they will never go to an area like Accra, Kumasi where the people are not involved in such behaviour,” he said.
Dr. Antwi-Danso also commended former President Mahama for engaging with Sahelian countries that have withdrawn from ECOWAS, encouraging them to return.
He noted that the withdrawal of the Alliance of Sahelian States (AES) – comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – had affected ECOWAS economically and structurally.
“Their exit is a blow to ECOWAS, both economically and structurally… the three countries have a lot in common and countries in the south trades with them,” he added.
Dr. Antwi-Danso explained that the Sahelian states were driven to form the AES because of shared language, currency, and a common security threat – terrorism.
According to him, the three countries once looked to ECOWAS for support to combat jihadists but were left unsupported.
“So they are more motivated to come together to fight these… than look up to ECOWAS for help because they could not provide the support to combat the jihadists who were taking over their lands,” he said.
Dr. Antwi-Danso warned that other countries could follow suit in exiting ECOWAS unless reforms are made.
He called on ECOWAS to close the gap between policy and implementation and strengthen integration to promote development.
GNA
KAS