Government Rejects Reports of British Troops Being Dispatched to Ghana

The government of Ghana has denied a report about the decision of the UK government to send 300 special forces troops to Ghana to support the Accra Initiative.

In a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, the government said it has no interactions with the UK Government aimed at deploying United Kingdom (UK) soldiers to Ghana for purposes of operations.

It furthered that the Accra Initiative (AI) is a cooperative and collaborative security mechanism, launched in 2017 under the leadership of the President, together with his colleagues from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo.

“The Initiative aims to prevent a spillover of terrorism from the Sahel and address transnational organized crime within the common border areas of member states.”

The statement continued: “The Initiative is to further exchange intelligence, build capacity, and undertake military action against terrorist forces in the Sahel that threaten coastal West Africa. The Accra Initiative is an African-led, African-executed initiative that would depend solely on the armed forces of its member states.”

“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,” the Ministry emphasized.

It also highlighted that the presence of the UK Minister for the Armed Forces in Accra was to participate in the Accra Initiative Conference on 1st and 22nd November, 2022.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration asserted that some people on social media are dwelling on false news to spread accusations against the Government of Ghana, asking the citizenry to be wary of fake news.

“We urge all patriotic Africans, including Ghanaian patriots, to not fall into the trap of disinformation, misinformation, and fake news that are intended to divide our societies and undermine our unity and purpose.”

UK’s “The Telegraph” and GhanaWeb, reported on November 22, 2022, that British soldiers were moving into Ghana after their evacuation from Mali.