New Border Post at Dakola in Burkina Faso

Mahami Salifu, Upper East Regional Minister, on Thursday urged governments in the West African Sub-Region to create structures that would facilitate trade, promote goodwill and simplify transit procedures between neighbouring states.

This would bring to fruition the ideals of the ECOWAS Protocol as well as enhance the economic well being of countries in the Sub-Region. Salifu, who led an eight-member Ghanaian delegation, was delivering a speech at the formal opening of a new border post at Dakola in the Nahouri Province of neighbouring Burkina Faso.

The post was originally located at Po, about 12 kilometres from the Paga border but the Burkinabe authorities moved it to Dakola, a distance of about three kilometres from the Ghana side of the frontier at Paga. "The opening of this new frontier between Ghana and Burkina Faso presents us with another opportunity to revisit the ideals that brought the leaders and peoples of our Sub-Region together under ECOWAS," the Regional Minister declared.

He said the Government of Ghana was committed to the promotion of bilateral co-operation as enshrined in the ECOWAS Treaty and the achievement of regional integration. This commitment he said was manifested by the government's Gateway Project as well as the recent introduction of the Ghana Community Network (GCNET) and the Ghana Customs Management System, he said.

Salifu announced that the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) station at Paga had been designated as one of the frontiers where the GCNET system would be installed. He called on communities residing along the borders to regard themselves as the same people separated only by artificial boundaries, and stressed the need for governments to concretise the mutual and symbiotic relations between such communities by providing social and economic amenities that would strengthen good relations.

Making reference to allegations of extortion and harassment of foreign nationals in transit, the Regional Minister told officials at both sides of the border that they held the key to the realisation of the ideals of ECOWAS. He warned that any Ghanaian border official caught involved in such negative acts would be dealt with drastically.

Jean-Baptiste Campaore, Burkina Faso Minister of Finance and Budget, later explained to newsmen that the increasing volume of trade between Ghana and Burkina Faso necessitated the relocation of the clearance point at Dakola, near Paga.

"Compared to the previous one at Po, the Dakola post has more modern clearance facilities, with a larger car park capable of holding more vehicles at a time", he said. Campaore referred to Ghana-Burkina Faso collaboration in recent times as a good example for other neighbouring countries and expressed the determination of the Burkinabe Government to join hands with its Ghanaian counterpart to fight cross-border crime.

Earlier in a welcoming address, the Haute Commissaire or Regional Commissioner of the Nahouri Province, Mr Habie Adama said the relocation of the post closer to the Paga Border was another manifestation of his government's confidence in the Ghana-Burkina bilateral relations. He expressed the hope that the new port would benefit the people of the two countries and conveyed his Government's gratitude to the Government of Ghana for the assistance extended to Burkina Faso returnees being evacuated from Cote d'Ivoire.