World bank; food prices increase

Ethnic, chieftaincy and boundary disputes as well as resurgence of youth groups and the mistrust of state security services by community members, are seen as major security issues that are still rife in border communities. For this reason, the Ghana Boundary Commission has organized a national consultative meeting on the emerging security threats. This is for effective boundary management and security. When stakeholders met in Accra, they discussed how to leverage on peace building and effective conflict resolutions to keep our borders safe and secure.

The West Africa region in recent times, has encountered a multitude of challenges and threats, with terrorism and piracy emerging as prominent concerns. And some of these emerging security concerns, are intricately linked to the integrity of our boundary structures. The Ghana Boundary Commission says human and drug trafficking, smuggling of arms and weapons and terrorism are still ongoing in these border communities making these areas unsafe and under developed.

According to the Conciliation Resources, in Burkina Faso alone, over 921,000 people are currently internally displaced as a result of violent conflict which represents a 92 percent rise since 2019. In view of this, the national dialogue has enabled stakeholders to compare notes and share ideas on strategies being implemented by participating institutions within the framework of boundary management in the trio border countries of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.

The West Africa Programme Director for Conciliation Resources, Mrs. Janet Mohammed says we must be concerned about our border communities and prioritize them to manage these challenges.

The recommendation at the end of the meeting was that successive governments must invest in cross-border infrastructure and institutions. They also suggested that border posts should be built and staffed with customs, security and immigration officials trained in border management. Also, local government must exercise strict control and accountability over security providers.