German govt commits to supporting Ghana counter terrorism, extremism

The German government has reiterated its commitment to supporting Ghana in implementing measures to counter threats of terrorism and extremism.

According to the Deputy Minister of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, Ms Katja Keul, Germany’s support would focus on prevention and early warning which were critical in curbing terrorism and violent extremism and fight against the threats that confronted the Sahel and gulf regions of Africa.

She was speaking during a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, on the sidelines of the Accra Initiative summit.

The Accra Initiative (AI) is an African-led cooperative and collaborative security mechanism, launched in 2017 under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with his colleagues from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo.

The current membership of the Initiative are Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Mali and Niger.

The Initiative aims to prevent a spillover of terrorism from the Sahel and to address transnational organized crime within the common border areas of member states.

Already, Ms. Keul noted that Germany was supporting the Accra initiative Centre by working with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in the most vulnerable areas in the provision of relevant equipment and the construction of required facilities.

“This move by Germany has added impetus to the objectives of the Accra initiative to exchange intelligence, build capacity, and provide logistics to augment our own actions against terrorist forces in the Sahel that threaten the Sahelian region and coastal west Africa,” she added.

Apart from the collaboration in the security space, she noted that, the relations between the two countries have been encouraging on the political and economic fronts aimed at propelling the Ghana Beyond Aid and sustainable growth in Africa.

She said Germany would continue its strategic cooperation with Ghana on other projects such as the ‘Digital Ghana Agenda’, which involves the digitisation of services and processes in the country to optimize efficiency and effectiveness.

 Additionally, Ms. Keul said the country was working towards enhancing its cooperation with Ghana in the field of electronic waste management for the benefits of both countries.

She stated that, Ghana’s membership of the United Nations (UN) Security Council provides further opportunity to promote international peace and security in view of the aspirations of both countries, especially as they relate to any action by any State that breaches the United Nations Charter and threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a country.

“We will, therefore, enhance our partnership through burden-sharing with Germany, especially, in the areas of intelligence sharing, logistics, capabilities and training of relevant security personnel,” she added.

On her part, Madam Botchwey said the government was focused on strengthening collaboration between countries in the region to promote peace and security.

She said the government would continue to relate diplomatically with all other countries in furtherance of Ghana’s economic growth agenda.

BY TIMES REPORTER

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