Some British Soldiers are expected to arrive in Accra-Ghana, in consonance with a security agreement signed between Ghana and the UK.
The Soldiers are likely to arrive within the week to train Ghanaian Soldiers.
“British ministers will this week fly to Ghana to hammer out a new security agreement.”
Telegraph report
Since the British Army has been involved in training troops in Ghana in recent times, the move to send troops to Ghana may just be a face saving move by the British Army which has shut down its missions in war-torn Mali.
Former Africa Minister Rory Stewart, who championed the ‘pivot to the Sahel’ missions under Prime Minister Theresa May, has been expressing his thoughts on what the real motive behind the trip to Ghana may be.
Since Ghana is not in a threatening terrorists situation like Mali is, Stewart opined that the trip to Ghana is just an excuse for leaving the war-torn Sahel region of Mali.
“We struggled to maintain 300 troops in Mali, partly because it cost perhaps as much as a hundred million pounds from tightly stretched budgets.
“I fear that the ‘pivot to Ghana and Burkina Faso’ is largely a way of excusing our retreat from the Sahel and will ultimately add up to less than people pretend.”
Rory Stewart, Former Africa Minister
Some British Ministers are expected to go to Burkina Faso as well.
With the recent Military upheavals in the West African nation, a move to send British troops to Burkina Faso, according to Mr. Stewart is not as misplaced as sending troops to Ghana.
However, with no British embassy in Burkina Faso, the Former Africa Minister noted that “there is a real limit to what the UK can do.”
Britain Recalls Troops From Mali
Three years ago, Britain announced a major ‘pivot’ to the jihadist-stricken Sahel region on Europe’s southern flank to great fanfare at home.
New embassies were opened. Hundreds of millions of pounds were promised in humanitarian and military aid. And 300 troops were sent deep into Mali to scout for gunmen allied to Islamic State and Al Qaeda.
This was prior to Britain exiting the European Union. The troops may have been recalled from Mali because, Britain has become more committed to its internal affairs .
Meanwhile, in August this year, thousands of French troops were chased out of the region by the Malian military junta they were supposed to protect.
Last week, the UK announced it was also withdrawing all of its troops from Mali, a place it had described as “the new terror front” just a few months ago.
Even before the UK announced it was withdrawing troops from the Sahel region, Mr. Stewart and some others had argued that Britain’s own security was at stake if the British Army was allowed to establish themselves in the Sahel on the key migration routes to Britain and Europe.
The UK security services – notably MI6, which has minimal presence in Africa, warned from the outset that the vastness and inhospitable conditions of the desert region meant the mission would be difficult to sustain.
In all, 300 troops from the Royal Scott Dragoon Guards and Royal Irish Regiment were meant to lead a highly mobile 14,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali which was under the command of the UN.
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