ARE THERE FOREIGN PLANS TO DESTABALISE GHANA?

Over the years, there have been persistent reports of sophisticated weapons being seized from people in parts of the three northern regions, from time to time. Discoveries of such weapons ought to be food for thought for all of us whenever they occur. During the civil war in the Ivory Coast, there were reports of rebels from the north of that country, crossing over to our side of the border – in order to have their “rest-and-recreation” in some areas in the north of Ghana. The sophisticated weapons found in parts of the north may very well originate from some of our neighbours. Today, as we speak there are rumours circulating in the Ivory Coast of a coup emanating from their eastern border – Ghana.

Could it be the case that for some of the powerful and corrupt politicians who govern the neighbouring countries (and elsewhere in Africa, no doubt) that we share borders with, Ghana is an irritant and a constant source of worry? Clearly, for the citizens of our neighbouring countries, Ghana is a shinning example of a politically-stable African nation whose citizens enjoy all the basic freedoms, and in which there is also a free and vibrant media – which constantly shines the spotlight on its political class. The idea that such a state borders the nations they are busy looting cannot be good for corrupt African politicians – and some of them might be tempted to look for vulnerable spots in the Ghanaian polity to enable them destabilize our country.

Furthermore, what corrupt African politician looking to rig elections and hang on to power forever, wants to see an example like Ghana (that has had two successful handovers of power from different ruling parties to opposition parties after peaceful elections), which his or her own citizens can point to as an example their leaders ought to emulate, located bang next door? Perhaps the time has come for our secret services to start thinking along such lines – and take steps to ensure that our country is protected from any such politicians across our borders (and elsewhere in Africa), who might not like to have a neighbouring state in which citizens can speak their minds freely on the airwaves and in newspapers, and where corrupt politicians are tried and jailed for willfully causing financial loss to their country, as an example to their citizens. Instability in Ghana is what such politicians may very well seek – and Ghana’s secret services must do everything they can to stop them succeeding in destroying the stability of our country. A word to the wise…