Dr. Kennedy Ahorsu, Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy at the University of Ghana, during a workshop in Accra, urged the African continent to develop independent security plans and work as a team to achieve this. T
he workshop with the theme “Security is Borderless: How Africa and Europe’s Security are Connected,” was organized by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in collaboration with the university.
Speaking from the point of view of Africa having to evolve their solutions considering history, identity, and national interests, he emphasized and explained the concept of ontological security.
He maintained that Africa’s security issues in the present time are rooted in the colonial era where European powers had established state systems that were responsible for the divisions that have lasted up till now.
The scholastic provided some illustrations to substantiate his assertion such as the Dagbon crisis in Ghana, the general disorder in Burkina Faso, and contentiousness at Kpandai as after-effects of the colonial policy like indirect rule.
He added that the meddling of international actors has aggravated security issues in Africa by connecting the terrorism in West Africa to the outside world such as the US invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
Ahorsu indicted the weak Africa’s identity in the global political arena and stated that African States are most times followers of Europe in their global dealings rather than being independent.
He urged African leaders to take a stand and be voice on global matters, reason that it is through the creation of their own identity that African nations will be able to come up with sustainable conflict resolutions.
