‘Ghana will help restore normalcy to Guinea Bissau’ - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pledged Ghana’s commitment towards ensuring the restoration of normalcy to Guinea Bissau.

Guinea Bissau is scheduled to hold its elections in November this year but the country is facing challenges with raising funds to organise the polls.

Speaking during a meeting with the Prime Minister of Guinea Bissau, Mr Aristides Gomes, at the Jubilee House in Accra, last Thursday, President Akufo-Addo said it would be the joy of Ghanaians to help find the means to end the constitutional crisis in that country.

Political stability

Ending the crisis, he said, would re-position Guinea Bissau onto the path of peace, progress and development, the President said.

President Akufo-Addo reiterated his support for the return of political stability and the restoration of democratic processes in that country and pledged Ghana’s support, in that regard, towards a successful election in Guinea Bissau in November.

Appeal for support

Mr Gomes, in his remarks, expressed regret about the crisis in Guinea Bissau, saying that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) restriction on that country’s economy had necessitated looking for additional financial resources to organise the elections.

He, therefore, appealed to Ghana and through President Akufo-Addo to other member Presidents of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), to lend financial support to Guinea Bissau to enable it to successfully carry out the elections in November.

President Akufo-Addo, thus, promised to push the agenda for support for that country’s election at the next ECOWAS and the Africa Union meetings and said, “I’m confident that something would be done.”

“Everybody is encouraged by you and the manner in which you have come; we recognise that this is a historic opportunity to try and bring this long standing crisis to a closure. So whatever be the case, you can count on me, you can count on Ghana for us to make a strong case as well as the post electoral situation as far as the ECOMOG is concerned.”

Security forces

The President was emphatic that there was the need to restructure the security forces in Guinea Bissau because “we cannot have a democracy unless the elected leaders of the country are able to control the security and the armed forces and the security services…these considerations are very genuine and very necessary.“

“You can count on us; whatever we can do to assist to bring about a positive development in Guinea Bissau we are going to do it,” he added.

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