By: Hannah Dadzie
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has refuted reports on UK Special forces for Ghana. In a statement, the Ministry said government’s attention has been drawn to news items by “the Telegraph” a UK news portal which was carried by a private media on November, 2022, captioned “British soldiers expected in Ghana after withdrawal from Mali.
The story by ” The Telegraph” which was authored by Will Brown their African correspondent, stated that the British Government had taken a decision to send 300 special forces units to Ghana to support the Accra Initiative
The Ministry said government has no interaction with the UK government which is aimed at deploying UK soldiers to Ghana for purposes of operations as described in the said story.
The Accra Initiative is a cooperative and collaborative security mechanism, launched in 2017 under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo with his colleagues from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, and Togo.
The current members of the Initiative are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo, Mali and Niger.
The initiative is to prevent a spill over of terrorism from the Sahel and address transnational organized crime within the common border areas of member state.
The statement said the Accra Initiative is an African-led and African-executed initiative which would depend solely on the armed forces of its member states.
“The presence of the UK Minster for the Armed Forces in Ac, was to participate in the Accra Initiative Conference on 21st and 22nd November, 2022” the statement added.
Government wishes to state that the information regarding British special forces is false and must be disregarded. It said neither Ghana nor any other member of the Accra Initiative has discussed with any partners, any such request nor contemplated the involvement of foreign forces in any of their activities.
“Some persons on social media have already leapt on the back of the false news items to spread vile accusations against the Ghana government” It noted
The Ministry is therefore urging all patriotic African not to fall into the trap of disinformation, misinformation and fake news that are intended to divide societies and undermine the unity of purpose.
Statement below:
Press Release – Government of Ghana Refutes story on UK Special Forces for Ghana
