Don’t Send Our Poor Soldiers To Untimely Death In Niger – Sam George Warns Akufo-Addo3 min read
Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram has cautioned President Akufo-Addo against “illegally” sending Ghanaian soldiers to Niger on a military intervention mission to die “untimely death”.
Don’t send our soldiers to untimely death in Niger – Sam George warns Akufo-Addo
According to the lawmaker, the President would need parliamentary approval to take any such decision and anything short of that would be an illegality.
In a post on his Twitter page, George said the basis for which the constitution permits the President to commit the country’s uniformed men to any operation in another sovereign country has not been satisfied.
“DO NOT SEND THEM TO UNTIMELY USELESS DEATH! Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the illegal action you and your cronies in ECOWAS are considering. Even if you wanted to hide under Article 42, do you have a UNSC resolution authorising an intervention? There is no clear evidence of the 3 bases required to trigger R2P so respect the sovereignty of Niger
“Any decision to commit our men and women of the Ghana Armed Forces to a senseless and needless war would demand the approval of Parliament and we demand same,” he wrote on Wednesday, August 16
Alluding to the popular ‘Dzi wo fie asem’ by the late President Evans Atta Mills in a similar situation in Lybia in 2011 when rebel forces invaded the compound of the country’s leader, Colonel Gaddafi in Tripoli during a turmoil that eventually resulted in his killing, Sam George urged the President to avoid meddling in the affairs of another sovereign country.
“A more pragmatic approach would be non-kinetic measures to engage and not the current aggressive stance to please your western puppet masters.
“Focus our scarce resources on improving the living conditions of Ghanaians and stop poking your nose in our Country’s matter. Dzi wo fie asem Mr President,” he warned.
He reminded President Akufo-Addo of the sorry state of the Ghana Armed Forces in terms of accoutrement and urged him to focus on retooling them rather than pushing them into a difficult situation that might result in the death of its officers.
“You know better than us all the pitiful state of our armed forces for a foreign military intervention in another sovereign state. You know that despite the professional attitude and disposition of our gallant officers, you have failed to retool and equip our forces.”
ECOWAS has given a strong indication that it will use its standby military forces to restore democracy in Niger after diplomatic means have failed.
Security analysts and diplomacy experts have advised against the use of force, warning it might backfire and worsen the insecurity situation in the West African Subregion.
The government of Nigerien president, Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown weeks ago and he has been under house arrest since, with a good number of the country’s citizens declaring support for the military junta.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the junta has expressed its readiness for talks with the regional bloc. It has also said that it will prosecute Mohamed Bazoum for high treason.
