President Akufo-Addo in a handshake with Omar Alieu Touray (Pix by Gifty Lawson)
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, has paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House.
Dr. Touray and his team are in the country to seek the leadership and guidance of the Ghanaian leader.
President Akufo-Addo was emphatic that Ghana alone could not lead the charge in ensuring peace in the sub-region unless the regional bloc gathered synergy and worked collectively.
He stated further that, “the whole scenario that is emerging requires that we have a consensus amongst us as to how we retreat the alliance of Sahel states. For me, that is the noble point. The epicentre of terrorism in our region is there ….I think it is important that the Heads of State meet to clarify exactly what are the parameters in which we should go in trying to define the policy.”
President Akufo-Addo said it is important that there is an agreement on a strategy in the future if ECOWAS is to make any meaningful impact in solving the issues of terrorism in the region.
President of the Commission briefed the Ghanaian leader on the outcomes of recent engagements and meetings on counter-terrorism measures in the region.
“On your instructions and on the instruction of your colleagues, we have convened meetings of Chief of Defence Staffs, Ministers of Defence and Security to look at ways and means of deactivating ECOWAS’s standby force and review ECOWAS plans of action which ends this year but not much has happened since when it was adopted”, he said
He updated President Akufo-Addo on some recommendations gathered as part of their engagements some include the idea of having a regional standby force that would consist of at least 5000 men and women with a supporting budget of some $2.4billion.
Further discussions, he said include modalities for funding for peace operations in the region.
He said the Commission is thus seeking guidance on how to raise the financing whether internally or with external support to meet its financing obligations for its peace operations.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu