The Minority in Ghana’s Parliament has called on the government to publicly react to the alleged report of a special inquiry commissioned by the Attorney General of Libya that some Ghanaians have been recruited by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya.
Addressing a news conference in Accra, a ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the Minority has taken keen interest in this report because Ghana is mentioned a number of times and in ways that it would not be in their collective strategic interest to ignore.
He indicated that the report, however, details crimes committed in cities across Libya by the terrorist group, adding that the Attorney General’s inquiry also shed light on the inner workings of the terrorist organisation in Libya including its “government structure, leadership organogram, funding and membership”.
Hon. Ablakwa stated that rather worrying for Ghana, we are considered to belong to the second highest category of 50-100. He added that this has been explained by the Attorney General of Libya’s office to mean between 50 to 100 Ghanaian migrants in Libya have been identified as active frontline fighters of ISIS in Libya. He further indicated that Ghana appears in this category with seven other countries namely; Senegal, Gambia, Chad, Niger, Eretria, Mali and Somalia.
He added that only four other countries; Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan and host nation Libya who all belong to the first category of 100 and over, were found to have more Islamic State fighters than the category Ghana finds itself.
He also said that while it was obvious to them that many Governments and intelligence agencies across the world would find the content of the Attorney General of Libya’s inquiry very disturbing, Ghanaians ought to be even more concerned due to the revelations made about their country.
Hon. Ablakwa further stated that they have, after careful consideration, decided on the importance of striking a fair balance by the need to avoid creating panic among the Ghanaian citizenry, and the need to limit how much information they put out at this stage for obvious national security reasons, and the obligations imposed on them by their constitutional mandate to help preserve the security of the State and the safety of the people they represent in Parliament.
The Minority demanded that government publicly react to this inquiry by the Libyan Attorney General’s Office due to its grave ramifications to Ghana’s image.
They added that government must provide the needed assurances to Ghanaians and our international security partners that this matter is receiving very high level attention within a Ghana-Libya Counter Terrorism Framework and within the global fight against terror.
They also said government must take steps to ascertain to what extent the Ghanaian-nationality claims in the report is accurate.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee on the Majority side of the House, Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, also addressed the media after the Minority’s press conference. He assured that the government was conducting an investigation into the matter and that the government was on top of issues to ensure the security of Ghanaians.
