‘Dzi wo fie asem’ – Sam George tells Akufo-Addo on military deployment to Niger

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram in the Greater Accra region, Samuel Nartey George has raised concerns about the potential consequences of using the military to intervene in Niger’s leadership crisis.

According to him, President Akufo-Addo has failed to retool and equip the Ghana Armed Forces (GFA) despite the unwavering professionalism and dedication exhibited by the officers.

President Akufo-Addo has indicated Ghana will contribute troops to a regional standby force to restore the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and his government. That will call for engaging the Niger’s soldiers who ousted him and are in control.

In a post on Wednesday, August 16, Sam George called on President Akufo-Addo to channel the country’s limited resources towards improving the living conditions of Ghanaian citizens rather than engaging in external entanglements.

He added that President Akufo-Addo should refrain from making decisions that might lead to the untimely and needless loss of lives.

“Focus our scarce resources on improving the living conditions of Ghanaians and stop poking your nose in other Country’s matters. Dzi wo fie asem Mr President,” he said.

Citing Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, the Ningo-Prampram MP said the law prohibits the use of military interventions that “you [President Akufo-Addo] and your cronies in ECOWAS are considering.”

“Even if you wanted to hide under Article 42, do you have a UNSC resolution authorising an intervention? There is no clear evidence of the 3 basis required to trigger R2P so respect the sovereignty of Niger,” he said.

Mr George further called on the president to consider the use of a thoughtful and prudent approach to resolve the crisis in Niger rather than complying with the use of military intervention to serve the interests of external powers.

“Any decision to commit our men and women of the Ghana Armed Forces to a senseless and needless war would demand the approval of Parliament and we demand same,” he noted.

‘Dzi wo fie asem‘, literally meaning mind your own business, became a popular political coinage when the late President John Evans Atta Mills, while being pushed by his political opponents to intervene in the then troubled Cote d’Ivoire, told off his critics he would rather mind his business than to meddle in the affairs of other sovereign nations.