# Ghana confronts growing terror threats

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2025/02/ghana-confronts-growing-terror-threats/
- Published: 2025-02-14T11:10:16+01:00
- Author: Military Africa

One of the most urgent challenges facing Ghana’s new president, John Dramani Mahama,
is developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to counter the growing threat
of terrorist groups moving south from the Sahel.

Mahama, who served as president from 2012 to 2017, focused his campaign on addressing
the country’s economic crisis. Experts have long advocated for increased investment
in northern Ghana to support the military’s efforts in preventing militants from
gaining a foothold. Mahama, hailing from Damongo in northern Ghana, raises hopes
of restoring peace in the region.

“Expectations of Ghanaians are very high, and we cannot afford to disappoint them,”
Mahama stated in his victory speech. “Our best days are not behind us. Our best 
days are ahead of us. Forward ever, backwards never.”

Extremist militants from the Sahel have already established themselves within Ghana’s
600-kilometer porous border with Burkina Faso and are likely recruiting from marginalized
northern communities.

Journalist Nosmot Gbadamosi, who has reported from northern Ghana for several years,
noted an “alarming spike in criminality and violence” in remote border areas. She
highlighted that young men engaged in criminal networks to smuggle gold, wood, weapons,
and machinery via Burkina Faso and Togo due to joblessness and poverty. “Their motives
were financial, not ideological. Indeed, hunger was the overriding factor,” she 
wrote for Foreign Policy magazine.

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Security experts emphasize that the government must increase its presence in the
north with services to address widespread poverty and unemployment, which has risen
to nearly 15% nationwide. According to the World Data Lab, around 3.5 million men
and 3.3 million women in Ghana live in extreme poverty, defined as living on or 
below $2.15 a day.

While Ghana’s military is well-regarded, it cannot alone prevent the spread of violent
extremist groups.

In March 2024, the United States announced $100 million in aid to support conflict
prevention and stabilization efforts in Ghana, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and
Togo—countries bordering Sahel terrorism hotspots in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
The European Union also provided military assistance in 2024 to bolster Ghana’s 
defense against radicalization.

About 4 kilometers from Ghana’s northern border with Burkina Faso, the town of Bawku
starkly embodies the country’s internal challenges. Hospitals, banks, and schools
have shut down as deadly clashes between the Kusasi and Mamprusi ethnic groups have
intensified.

Recently, Ghanaians have participated in the fighting between Islamist insurgents
and the military in neighboring Burkina Faso, crossing the 550-kilometer (340-mile)
porous border undetected by security forces.

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Bawku is embroiled in a decades-long struggle between ethnic groups over local chieftaincy
control. More than 100 people have been killed in clashes since October.

JNIM smugglers are accused of selling weapons to both sides, taken from the military
in Burkina Faso, using trucks transporting onions between Niger and Burkina Faso
to hide the weapons. Ghanaian security is ill-equipped to detect these vehicles,
putting the country in a critical situation.

President John Mahama, who took office in January after winning December’s presidential
election, visited Bawku last month to promote peace between rival groups. However,
gunfights continue to be reported.

Ghana’s governing party spokesman Sammy Gyamfi told the BBC that ending the violence
in Bawku is the government’s “number one priority.”

“The violence is already spreading and if care is not taken, it’s likely that insurgents
from the wider region can take advantage of this conflict,” he said.

**Ghana Military responds to this threat**

To confront this growing threat, the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF) is set to [establish a War College](https://www.military.africa/2023/02/ghana-to-establish-war-college-as-terrorism-creeps-closer/#google_vignette)
to train future military strategists and leaders. The Institution will be established
with seed capital from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), is expected to 
be the capstone of Ghana’s military education system.

A War College is a senior military academy whose purpose is to educate and train
senior military tacticians, strategists, and leaders. It is also a place where advanced
tactical and strategic thought, doctrines and policy are developed.

“It would also provide and improve the professional education of the highest levels
of military leadership when established.”

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In April 2022, Ghana took the first step in building a [viable military industrial complex to supply it’s military](https://www.military.africa/2022/04/ghana-looks-inward-for-military-equipment-production/)
with equipment. Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia Monday, 4 April, inaugurated a joint
venture companies under the Defence Industries Holding Company (DIHOC), and also
commissioned construction equipment worth US $18 million to support the military’s
operations and the General Headquarters Office Complex of the Military.

Three years ago, [British troops provided training to Ghanaian soldiers](https://www.military.africa/2021/03/british-army-delivers-urban-warfare-training-to-ghanaian-soldiers/)
on fighting in built up area (FIBUA) to enhance their capacity to tackle threats
from violent extremist organisations.

Also, to enhance the mobility and overall operational capabilities of the Ghana 
Armed Force [inducted 245 vehicles of various types](https://www.military.africa/2023/02/ghanaian-military-acquires-245-combat-vehicles-to-enhance-its-operational-capacity/#google_vignette)
into service. Ghana’s president and commander-in-chief Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
presented the vehicles to the Ghana Armed Forces in the capital Accra on 1 February,
2023. The vehicles include 70 Kamaz trucks, 20 BTR-70 armoured personnel carriers(
APCs), 20 Navistar Defence Husky tactical support vehicles (TSVs), and 65 Toyota
utility vehicles.

Last year May, it was announced that [Ghanaian military will be receiving 70 Husky 4×4 tactical support vehicles (TSV) from the United Kingdom](https://www.military.africa/2022/05/uk-to-send-70-husky-tsv-4x4-vehicles-to-ghana/)
to help improve security in it’s northern borders. UK will also provide related 
training regarding the operation and regular maintenance of the vehicles. UK will
also provide related training regarding the operation and regular maintenance of
the vehicles.

The European Union (EU) in October 2023, [donated](https://www.military.africa/2023/10/eu-donates-seized-military-vehicles-to-ghana-to-boost-security/)
over 100 armoured military vehicles to the West African nation. These vehicles were
[originally seized from a ship off the coast of Libya ](https://www.military.africa/2022/11/eu-operation-irini-intercepts-ship-carrying-batt-umg-armoured-vehicles-to-libya/)
as part of EU maritime efforts to enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya.

The donated vehicles includes BATT UMG armoured vehicles, Toyota Land Cruisers, 
Chevrolet trucks, and GMC trucks. At least 28 BATT UMGs, manufactured by the United
Arab Emirates’ The Armoured Group, were being [transported](https://www.military.africa/2022/11/eu-operation-irini-intercepts-ship-carrying-batt-umg-armoured-vehicles-to-libya/)
by the MV Meerdijk to Libya when the merchant vessel was inspected by Irini forces
on 11 October 2022.

In 2022, the United Kingdom [provided](https://www.military.africa/2022/05/uk-to-send-70-husky-tsv-4x4-vehicles-to-ghana/#google_vignette)
new armoured vehicles comprising of 70 Husky 4×4 tactical support vehicles (TSV)
to help improve security in it’s northern borders.

UK will also provide related training regarding the operation and regular maintenance
of the vehicles.

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