The Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa North, James Agalga says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo must answer to Parliament on why the country should commit its troops to Niger.
This follows the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) order to its standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger.
The President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray made the declaration while reading the resolution of ECOWAS on the Niger coup at the ECOWAS Extraordinary meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
Speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Friday, Mr Agalga said “So far, the president has not accorded the respect that Parliament ought to be accorded in this matter. He needs to come before Parliament to justify why Ghana must commit troops to Niger. We want to commit Ghanaian lives to go and fight in Niger, to spend Ghanaian resources at a time when we are having serious economic challenges, at a time when the Bank of Ghana is on the verge of collapse.”
“…This is a very serious matter. They know that they have to come to Parliament. I am convinced they have gauged the public’s mood and are very certain that if they bring this matter before Parliament, the house will shoot it down.”
Mr Agalga further indicated that the matter had to be extensively debated in Parliament for the true will and stance on the matter to be established.
“Let them bring the matter before Parliament, we will raise all these issues, we will debate and at the end of the day the will of our people will be expressed through Parliament on whether or not our gallant soldiers should go and fight in Niger,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central and member of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mahama Ayariga has applauded the regional bloc’s order to its standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger.
Mr. Ayariga said that inasmuch as it is important to resolve the Nigerien crisis diplomatically, it is also prudent to demonstrate the military capacity of ECOWAS because the military junta in Niger is not willing to dialogue since the coup occurred on July 27.
“We all believe that ultimately the issue should be resolved diplomatically but for diplomacy to work effectively, the military option has to remain on the table and those that ECOWAS will be engaging in Niger must understand that ECOWAS has the capacity to enforce its will and if ECOWAS does not demonstrate that capacity, the diplomatic option will not be an effective option. So I am not surprised that ECOWAS is sharpening its knife to demonstrate to the Nigerien junta that it has the capacity to enforce its will.”
“Ultimately, it is sitting and talking and dialoguing that will resolve this issue, but that will not proceed unless the Nigerien junta feels the capacity of ECOWAS.”
Source: citinewsroom.com
