Why Ghana is opposing Nigeria's effort to use force in Sierra Leone
by Janet Samson (with AP reports)
The turn of events in the west African country of Sierra Leone is moving into another diplomatic tangle. While Nigeria is cliaming to be rightlfully exercising the mandate of the continetal body Organization of African Unity, OAU, to help restore democratically elected leader of Sierra Leone (Nigeria is governed by a military dictatorship), Ghanaian diplomats although condemning the ouster of Sierra Leone's civilian president has strongly rejected armed force to return him to power on the second and final day of talks June 21 with the new military junta. According AP: the talks, which opened Friday, were aimed at ending a nearly month-old standoff between the coup leaders and supporters of the ousted government.
Sierra Leone's neighbors have all condemned the May 25
coup, and Nigeria led a fierce military assault shortly after the
takeover to try to drive out the coup leaders. The effort failed
after fighting that killed at least 50 people.
Self-proclaimed head of state Maj. Johnny Paul Koroma has been trying since then to persuade other countries not to join Nigeria in a second assault.
"We as a sub-region should not allow ourselves to be pushed to a military intervention in Sierra Leone, because this would be bloody and destructive," Ghana's deputy foreign affairs minister, Victor Gbeho, said in comments broadcast on state-run radio.
Koroma said June 21 that the talks marked a "a significant step" toward said he hoped to have more talks with Ghana and all members of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS.
Gbeho said Ghana joined the United Nations, Organization of African Unity, and the ECOWAS in condemning Koroma's coup but believed the impasse should be resolved through negotiations involving west African states.
Gbeho met for three hours Friday with Koroma.
The junta's secretary-general, Col. Abdul Sesay, said afterward that Ghana was "very concerned" that the international community did not seem to be paying attention to the possibility of another Nigerian attack on Freetown.
The junta has struggled to stamp authority on this troubled West African country since the coup. Looters have run amok in the capital and the interior; workers have stayed home; and the banking system is paralyzed, creating a cash shortage.
(See inside for exclusive and contrasting viewpoints by USAfrica's columnist/reporters on Why Gen. Abacha intervened in Sierra Leone and What the OAU mandate on Koroma's coup will mean for Africa).
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