The West Africa Center for Counter-Extremism (WACCE) has warned that unresolved chieftaincy and border disputes in some parts of Ghana expose the country to terrorist exploitation which may jeopardize Ghana’s political stability.

WACCE stated that these loopholes further expose the country to political risks in the wake of terrorism and unrest in the ECOWAS sub-region and neighboring countries such as Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast.

The regional security research organization underscored that the threat of terrorism is increasingly descending from the Sahel towards the Coastal States.

“Today, more than 53% of all ECOWAS states are experiencing insurgencies. The pervasive spillover phenomenon makes Ghana’s border regions a key area of concern. Recent attacks in Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast highlight the determination of the terrorists to expand beyond landlocked Sahelian countries, where the insurgency has devastated thousands of lives and property in the last decade.

“Extremists have a huge exploitative capacity. Ghana has over 352 unresolved chieftaincy conflicts. The protracted chieftaincy and ethnic conflicts in the border regions constitute a direct threat and opportunity for extremist exploitation”.
WACCE

The Global Terrorism Index reports (2019 & 2020) indicated that up to 97% (2020) of all terrorism fatalities occurred in countries already in conflict. The opportunistic and exploitative capacity allows extremists to exploit vulnerabilities such as the above and enable them to eventually launch successful attacks in new and vulnerable territories hitherto unknown to terrorism, WACCE cautioned in a 2022 report.

Rising youth unemployment

In the report, the regional security research organization stated that even though Ghana has been relatively peaceful over the years, domestic challenges such as youth unemployment also pose a major risk to the country’s stability.

WACCE highlighted that many analysis project the pervasive youth unemployment rate of about 5% as one of the biggest risks. It stated that even though the present government set up the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) to absorb the high number of unemployed graduates, most of these jobs are temporary.

“The growing joblessness has driven many onto the cyber space to live on an illicit economy. The determination of social activists such as the #FixTheCountry campaigners to exploit the security, economic and governance challenges amplifies the risks associated with youth grievances.

“The above highlight the widespread nature of the threat to Ghana and underscores the importance and urgency needed to escalate national commitment to preventing the threat from spilling into Ghana”.
WACCE

Nonetheless, WACCE indicated that the threats of political instability can, however, be forestalled if measures are put in place to prevent the impending dangers, even though WACCE acknowledged that Ghana already has some measures in place to deal with any spillover terrorist threats emanating from its neighboring countries.

Some of the measures include state counter-terrorism measures such as Operation Conquered Fists and ‘Exercise Eagle Claw 2020’ which sought to empower security agencies to deal with possible multiple terror attacks in-country.

“But the overall effectiveness of Ghana’s response will be determined by the State’s willingness to recognize that the battle against terrorism and the drivers that underpin it cannot be won on the battlefield alone. It will be won in the local community in dealing with the drivers of radicalization and building resilience against the threat”.
WACCE

WACCE further stated that the fight against terrorism can also be won by effectively addressing grievances, mobilizing local community support and goodwill to build the social and economic infrastructure that is required to build resilience against extremism.