Opposition lawmakers in Ghana have expressed concern over the Ecowas plans to potentially launch military action in Niger as part of efforts to restore constitutional order in the country.
The lawmakers are demanding Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo to immediately stop all preparatory mobilisation towards deploying Ghanaian soldiers.
“The Ghanaian Parliament has not discussed this matter unlike other countries who have had the opportunity to debate these matters and to pass a resolution,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament’s foreign affairs committee told the BBC.
“He [President Akufo-Addo] doesn’t have a mandate from the Ghanaian people in this matter… We do not believe a military intervention is the way forward,” he added.
The country’s minority lawmakers hold the view that diplomacy and constructive dialogue should be explored.
“Ghana’s gallant soldiers must be kept far away from the looming bloodbath and escalating geopolitical confrontation, which is bound to explode with far-reaching consequences for stability in an already volatile region,” Mr Ablakwa said.
Ghana’s minority lawmakers say scarce resources of the state should be directed at resolving the country’s economic challenges following a $3bn (£2.4bn) International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout rather than getting entangled in a “proxy geopolitical confrontation”.
