New UNSC chair Ghana vows to rid Africa of UN peacekeeping menace

On November 1st, Ghana assumed the Presidency of the Security Council at the United Nations, which is a historical moment for Ghana.

After assuming the role at UNSC, Ghana declared that its top agenda during its 1-month-long presidency would be “rethinking” the role of UN peacekeepers in Africa. At the UNSC, the Chairperson gets to decide the agenda of the meetings, so that’s a big opportunity for the African nation. The noteworthy point here is that the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, will himself be present in New York to chair a high-level meeting with the council members.

As per recent statements by Ghana’s President, it looks like he’s questioning the West’s role, especially the UN and its peacekeeping force, in the African continent.

Ghana’s stand in the UNSC

In UNSC, Ghana plans to launch a no-holds-barred attack on the extremists and Islamists wreaking havoc on Africa. As per its envoy in UN, Harold Agyemag, the country will be holding two major meetings over the question of counter-terrorism in the continent.

But Ghana understands that if the problem of extremism is to be uprooted from Africa, UN peacekeeping menace needs to be tackled first. UN’s atrocities in Africa are hardly reported by media, but we at TFI Global have never shied away from reporting the truth.

Read more IMF, UN and now FATF: The tools that West uses to keep Africa under its thumb

Atrocities of U.N. Peacekeeping forces in Africa

The members of peacekeeping forces and UN personnel enjoy immunity in the nations where they are stationed. In case if atrocities committed by UN peacekeepers in Africa are reported to the UN headquarters, no system is in place to ensure that justice is served to the victims. Few nations with sovereign jurisdiction prosecute UN personnel, police, or peacekeepers accused of committing major crimes, and even fewer are properly convicted.

Read More For the first time, African nations corner the US in its own den- The UN

CAR: A sorry subject of UN Peacekeepers’ atrocities

We can discuss UN’s atrocities in the Central African Republic to begin with. In addition to its disregard for the security situation, the UN mission in CAR is under fire from the people for the atrocities and brutality committed by its personnel. Over time, UN peacekeeping personnel have done things that have infuriated the locals and prompted calls for both investigations and criminal prosecution.

For instance, in November, a MONUSCO-owned automobile attempted to intrude into President Faustin Archange Touadera’s home, with hostile intentions. When they failed in their attempts to breach the President’s security, the UN peacekeepers ran over a 16-year-old girl while hastily fleeing the area. The girl’s death sparked massive outrage in the Central African Republic (CAR). But the UN didn’t stop there. To quell the protests, the peacekeeping forces fired shots recklessly, resulting in the death of a 12-year-old. This sparked waves of grief and anger among the citizens of the Central African Republic.

Ghana’s vow to weed out UN peacekeepers from Africa is aimed at ridding Africa of this menace only. So, Ghana is ensuring that the upcoming month at the Security Council turns out to be a major headache for UN peacekeepers. Sensing this, the West has already embarked on an appeasement trip and has deployed IMF on the damage control mission.

The West is trying its best by sending out IMF bailout packages and other sugar-coated goodies to try to influence it. But it looks like Ghana is simply unstoppable. The agenda is set that, despite the West’s efforts of swaying Ghana, it is not going to act as a “puppet” of the West. Ghana is determined to question the West’s role in international peacekeeping missions.