Coup d’état: Kwamena Defends Prez Akufo-Addo on His Decision to Send Soldiers to Niger | General News

Former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan has asked critics to cut President Nana Akufo-Addo some slack on his decision to join ECOWAS in deploying soldiers to Niger to stabilize the military situation in the country.

A military junta seized power in Niger on July 26 this year, resulting in ECOWAS threatening to send troops to the country if they fail to reinstate the President.

The ECOWAS bloc said on Thursday it had directed a “standby force” to restore constitutional order in Niger after its Sunday deadline to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum expired.

Following news that Ghana’s President seeks to deploy Ghanaian military forces to Niger, Nana Akufo-Addo has come under intense criticisms with some political leaders calling on him to immediately halt the intervention.

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa raised alarm regarding the proposed ECOWAS initiative and cautioned President Akufo-Addo stating in a Facebook post that “Ghana’s gallant soldiers must be kept far away from the looming bloodbath and escalating geopolitical confrontation which is bound to explode with far-reaching consequences for stability in an already volatile region”.

But Kwamena Duncan believes the President is privy to information that many Ghanaians don’t know and based on what he knows from his engagement with relevant stakeholders and the ECOWAS body think it may be better to potentially employ the military intervention in Niger.

“Before a President will say this is what I want to do, he would have weighed a lot of matters and I’m sure putting all of it on the scale that it will be better if we go in this direction”, the former Central Regional Minister said on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” show.

To him, the President has done extensive analysis of the proposal before committing to it, so asking critics “are we saying that the security of the sub-region which has a direct effect on us, it is not in consonant with our national interest?”