Priti Patel, the United Kingdom’s Home Secretary has lauded Ghana’s democratic credentials in the sub-region describing the country as a beacon of ‘freedom and democracy in West Africa.’
The Home Secretary is the political security chief of the UK, who is responsible for immigration, the police and other matters relating to the safety of the United Kingdom.
She said the UK remained committed to continuing its cooperation with Ghana in the areas of combating terrorism, organised migration crime, drug trafficking and other global threats.
Her views were contained in a press statement issued by the British High Commission in Accra, and copied to the Ghana News Agency.
The statement followed the second UK-Ghana security dialogue which took place in London between July 25 and 27, to discuss shared interests in tackling global issues. The Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah led the Ghanaian delegation.
Madam Patel said: “The UK and Ghana has a deep and long-standing relationship, and we are powerful allies when confronting the scourge of organised criminal gangs that operate across our borders.”
“Ghana is the beacon of freedom and democracy in West Africa and through our joint work we are tackling global threats and cracking down on the threats to our mutual security.”
Mr Kan-Dapaah on his part, said: “The UK is a primary and reliable partner to Ghana; therefore, we welcome essential security initiatives from the UK towards building Ghana’s resilience to address national and regional threats.”
“The Home Secretary visited Ghana last year in the first round of talks, opening a new Home Office-funded immigration taskforce office in the process.”
The statement said because of the joint working group, since January 2022, 14 organised crime groups had been disrupted preventing the facilitation of 56 individuals from entering the UK illegally, saving the UK over £812,000 in the process.
The two countries recommitted to strengthening law enforcement agency collaboration, strengthen engagement on border security, work together to enhance cyber security in Ghana and support regional solutions to instability in Ghana’s neighbouring states.
Posted by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh/Disclaimer.
