Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle Constituency, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has made a passionate appeal to all stakeholders including development partners to commit more resources towards securing international boundaries and developing boundary communities.
Such investment, she said, will go a long way to ensure that international boundaries of African states are safe from terrorist cells and armed gangs as well as prevent the borders from becoming entry routes for the trafficking of illegal arms, humans and other illicit commodities.
Ms. Agyeman-Rawlings made the call in a statement to Parliament on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 to commemorate the African Union Border Day.
She urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, ratify the Niamey Convention to advance regional integration, improve on peace and security in the region, develop borderlands and border communities, and improve cross border cooperation with neighbouring countries.
According to her, the African Union Border Day, which is celebrated annually on the 7th of June was instituted by the African Union as part of the African Union Border Programme.
She said, “This day is set aside to celebrate the existence and significance of borders in promoting peace as well as regional and continental integration in Africa.”
“The objective is to create awareness on the elimination of all sources of conflicts along international boundaries of Member States and to make border communities peaceful, safe and harmonious for socio-economic integration and cultural development.”
“Also significant is the fact that the Day aims at establishing the importance of the African Union Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation, popularly referred to as “The Niamey Convention”. This Convention is a critical framework for integrated border governance and cross-border cooperation.”
Hon. Zanetor noted that despite having such frameworks in place there are a lot of factors that could be a threat to Ghana’s security including the southward drift of violent extremism and terrorism in the sub-region.
Ghana’s porous borders, she said, make it absurd to say the country is exempt from the security threats in our sub-region.
“Ghana is also bound to the south by the Atlantic Ocean which also introduces a maritime dimension to our boundary issues and International Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Furthermore, the free movement of people within the ECOWAS coupled with the widening gap between the rich and the poor increases crime and, yet again, poses a threat to our national security,” she added.
