Terror activities weakening democracy in Africa, let’s deal with it - Akufo-Addo to African leaders

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on African leaders to put in more efforts to end terrorism in the sub Region.

The Ghanaian leader asserted that there is no country is safe until the activities of terrorists are brought to an end.

President Akufo-Addo made the remarks at the opening of the Heads of State meeting of the Accra Initiative.

He said terror activities in the sub-region are gradually weakening the democracy of affected countries.

“I say nothing new when I say that West Africa continues to suffer from the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism spreading rapidly across the region”.

“Indeed as recent events continue to ravage the Sahelian countries of West Africa, epicentres of terrorism, we continue to watch in angst how activities of terrorist groups have resulted in the unfortunate disregard of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of our states, the painful deterioration of the strength of our democracies and the wanton displacement of the masses of our people.”

The Accra Initiative is a meeting in Accra of seven West African countries to discuss ways to prevent terrorism from spreading from the Sahel region.

In 2017, five West African countries — Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo — launched the Accra Initiative to combat violent extremism in the region.

Mali and Niger joined as observers before becoming full members in 2019.