ACCRA, Jan. 31 — Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called for a strengthened solidarity in the West Africa and Sahel region to ensure a united front in the fight to subdue terrorism and other acts of violence.
Mahama said during the opening of the Presidential meeting of the two-day High-Level Consultative Conference on Regional Cooperation and Security in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, that since the issue of terrorism and violent extremism confronts the entire subregion, it is important to fight it together with a united front.
The Ghanaian president explained that the consultative conference would complement efforts by subregional bodies of ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States “by improving coherence, strengthening coordination, enhancing effectiveness across security, expressing solidarity, development, and resilience,” to secure the peace of the subregion.
“We aim to lay the foundations for a renewed framework that respects national sovereignty while reinforcing collective responsibility, that prioritizes preventive diplomacy and early action, that integrates security responses with development and governance, and that places the well-being of our people at the center of policy,” he pledged.
But for this regional solidarity to work, Mahama said there is a need for trust among the countries, “because regional solidarity works when it is underpinned by trust, consistency, and political will.”
He condemned the recent terror attack in Niger and expressed solidarity with the government and people of the Sahelian country.
Presidents of Sierra Leone and Liberia, African Union officials as well as foreign ministers and ambassadors of countries in the subregion attended the meeting. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
