Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, the Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has said the escalating conflicts and tension across the globe today calls for greater bilateral relations among countries to protect territorial integrity and democracy.
He said the threats of invasion by terrorist groups such as Islamic jihadists and Boko Haram as well as piracy attacks required urgent collaboration to stop the threat to democratic values and norms.
“The escalation of tension in the world today, particularly with the threats of invasion by fundamentalists, require us to collaborate together and be able to save our territorial integrity,” he said.
‘Up our game’
Holding a bilateral talk with the Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Vladimire Orlic, in Kigali Friday (Oct 14), Mr Bagbin said “There is the urgent need for us to up our game with our bilateral relations to stop the influence of these fundamentalists.
“We need to improve on our relationship, enhance cooperation and inter-country bilateral relations to be able to keep these things under control,” he stated.
The talks, which took place on the fringes of the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly in Kigali, saw the leaders discussing how Ghana and Serbia could enhance existing cooperation to improve trade, investments, maritime security, technology and increase scholarships in the areas of education and agriculture.
The delegation from Ghana at meeting were the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; the Clerk-to-Parliament, Cyril Nsiah; and the Director of Protocol and Parliamentary Relations, Sheba Osei, and the Director of the Office of the Speaker, Richard Acheampong.
Destroying democracies
Mr Bagbin noted that upsurge in the activities by religious extremists, including Boko Haram and Islamic Jihadists, were destroying democracy in the Sahel region.
He said while in the past France lent support to a number to countries to push back fundamentalist, today France was under attack by many of the colonial countries in Africa that had risen against it.
He cited how two days ago extremists went to attack the Institute of Languages in Burkina Faso and destroyed some properties.
“So, there is some rise across by the Islamic jihadists who are trying to infiltrate and Ghana is really under attack,” he said.
Collapsing economies
Mr Bagbin also highlighted the threat posed by Boko Haram which was causing havoc in Nigeria as well as the impact of climate change which triggered floods in Nigeria and Cameroun, killing hundreds of people.
Acknowledging that Serbia was caught in the war between Russia and Ukraine, Mr Bagbin said Africa countries “were not far from the impact of the war”.
He indicated that fragile economies of Africa were really overstretched and were collapsing, including the economy of Ghana
Collaboration of friends
Contributing to the discussion, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu expressed worry how today neighbouring country, Burkina Faso, had over 50 per cent of its territory to jihadists.
The terrorist group, he said, were now pushing down south, with Ghana becoming “a destined Ghana target.”
“The French have been lending support to their formal colonial states but it looks like they have relaxed which is why Mali is now almost gone and Niger and Chad are under fierce attack.
“About six months ago, the jihadists came as close as about 17 kilometres to the northern boundary of Ghana and this a reason why we need collaboration of friends to protect the territorial integrity of our country,” he said.
Strengthening relations
Mr Orlic said emphasised the need for the two countries to work and support each other, particularly in the areas of technology, agriculture, culture, education and scholarships.
He was happy that Serbia opened its embassy in Accra again, saying that “this happened really fast and that is the first embassy which we opened after several decades in Africa and of course West Africa.
“This confirms to our dedication to work and strengthen our relation and to be together. We are improving things and we are there for you,” he said.
Pix: Mr Bagbin (right) exchanging gift with his Serbian counterpart, Mr Orlic (2nd left) after the bilateral talks. With them is the Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (2nd right), the Majority Leader.