BRITISH SOLDIERS ALREADY IN GHANA

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By Our Special Correspondent.

Top level sources in the Ghana Armed Forces have confirmed that Ghana is already hosting British Soldiers who have been assigned to train local forces.

The sources claim that the British Soldiers are not permanently resident in Ghana but are called upon from time to time to train their Ghanaian counterparts in undisclosed areas.

This partially confirms the disclosure by James Heappey, the British Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans that “British troops are already in Ghana training the Ghana Armed Forces”.

Heappey however insists that “the UK. Government has no plans of sending more troops to Ghana”.

Last week, the U.K. based newspaper “The Telegraph” reported that the British government intends to deploy some special forces to Ghana following the withdrawal of 300 peacekeepers from Mali in the wake of frosty relations with Mali over the involvement of Russian security personnel in the fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel.

“The Telegraph’s” report indicated that the number of British troops to be deployed in Ghana could be beefed up to 1,400.

In response to this Heappey told “JOY FM” an Accra based radio station that “I think they’ve just slightly misunderstood whatever they were briefed. The reality is that there are already UK troops in Ghana training your Armed Forces. There is currently no plan to send anybody else”.

A statement from Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration flatly denied that the Government has reached agreement with the UK for the deployment of British special forces in the country.

The statement said “The Government of Ghana wishes to state that the information regarding British Special Forces is false. Neither Ghana nor any other member of the Accra Initiative has discussed with any partner, any such request or contemplated the involvement of foreign forces in any of their activities”.

Sources in Ghana’s Ministry of Defense confirm that Ghana has arrangements with the United States of America, Britain and Canada for the training of its soldiers.

The US has a special military relationship with Ghana captured in an agreement approved by the Parliament of Ghana in May 2018.

Under this agreement, US soldiers can enter Ghana without passports and visas and are allowed to use the country’s radio frequencies for free.

US soldiers are also not subject to any inspection including customs inspection on arrival and departure from Ghana.

The agreement also provides that the US soldiers cannot be subjected to any judicial processes for the destruction of Ghanaian property and for the loss of lives of Ghanaian citizens.

Currently, a number of countries in West Africa including Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Benin, and Togo have come under attack by Islamic Insurgents affiliated to the Islamic State.

Two weeks ago, West African Countries met in the Ghanaian capital under “The Accra Initiative” to develop a common strategy for combating the insurgents.

The meeting was attended by James Heapper and Defense specialists from Western countries including the United States of America.

Credit; The Insight.

27^th November 2022.