Niger coup: Learn from Atta Mills’ neutral stance on Ivory Coast – Nunoo Mensah to Akufo-Addo

Former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Joseph Nunoo Mensah, Brigadier (retired) has reiterated that the use of brute force to force Niger’s coup leaders to hand over power to the country’s president should be the last alternative for the body of West African leaders ECOWAS.

ECOWAS leaders leaned toward a diplomatic solution, reserving military action as a last resort. The deadline for the junta to reinstate the elected president passed without change, with some neighboring countries supporting Niger's military.

The Former National Security Advisor speaking on CTV’s Dwabr3 Mu Monday, 13 August 2023, said: “Where we are today, with Niger, we have been here before.”

He indicated that such situations require that President Nana Addo Dankwa be advised.

“To me this is what head of state who has got advisor should do. Even though you may have knowledge on what to do. This is what I’m employed and paid to do.”

Recounting when he was Special Advisor to late President Atta Mills, a time when the people of Cote d’Ivoire held elections and the incumbent Laurant Gbagbo was said to have won the elections illegitimately, ECOWAS was mobilising forces to go to Cote d’Ivoire to forcibly remove him, President Mills invited him to seek his opinion.

According to him, he “spoke to the President citing the various wars, including Iraqi war, Korean war, Vietnam war among other that have occurred in the past and their resolution and indicated that:

“You can start a war you may not end it. It may add a wild fire, burning out of control. After a long talk, I advised him [President Mills] to speak to Quattara and his colleague, advise them.

“I was there he spoke to Gbagbo a lot to him to walk him out of this dangerous situation and I advised him don’t send Ghanaian troops to go, there’s no sense in this war.

"Don’t do that keep on talking to him, and I made him walk out of that thing. Without Ghana’s participation ECOWAS couldn’t mount on Cote d’Ivoire so the whole thing fizzled out, Akufo-Addo, there were was in opposition they were yelling go go, we’re in bed with Gbagbo, not in bed, we’re in bed with common sense.”

The security expert who is of the opinion that the use of force to get the coup leader of Niger to hand over power to the president will have dire consequences stressed the use of force should be the last alternative.

“We always try negotiation and jaw-jaw” rather than force it is the last resort he stressed.

He further stressed that the use of force has a lot of repercussions “Force is there to be used but they should really think about it before resorting to it,” he added.