The tricycle riders and market women in the Paga community of the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, have formulated plans to spearhead campaigns focused on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE).
Their action plan aims to sensitise fellow cross-border traders to the risks of radicalisation and the significant impact that violent extremist activities could have on their economic activities.
The move followed a two-day capacity-building workshop organised by the Upper East Regional Peace Council for a selected group of the beneficiaries, as part of the Atlantic Corridor Project, aimed at empowering cross-border traders in preventing and responding to early warning signs of violent extremism.
The project, funded by the governments of Denmark, Norway, Germany, and Australia through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), targets 240 cross-border traders, 60 in each of the Paga, Navrongo, Fumbisi, and Zebilla communities.
Madam Florence Agomba, a leader of market women in second-hand clothing at the Paga border, emphasised the pressing need for the campaign and shared her firsthand experience with a suspicious character in the market.
“There was this gentleman who was in the market posing as a shoeshine, but his behaviour over the days became suspicious, so, we reported him to the security services. When he was arrested, he was found to be armed, and so this sensitisation has become necessary for us all to be alert,” she said.
Mr Vitus Asezim, the Secretary of the Tricycle Riders Association, reiterated that sensitising their fellow traders about the activities of violent extremists was crucial to resisting radicalisation and economic offers by violent extremists and affirmed his group’s commitment to promoting the prevention of violent extremism.
Mr David Angaamba, the Principal Programme Manager, Peace Council, underscored the invaluable nature of peace and the collective responsibility of stakeholders in preserving it for sustainable development.
He noted that an estimated 200 Ghanaians who were said to have joined violent extremist organisations as of 2022 were exploited because of poverty and other economic difficulties and urged the traders to be guarded.
Mr Angaamba reiterated that Ghana’s proximity to areas of jihadists operations made it a fallback territory because violent extremists could exploit security weakness and called on the stakeholders to build resilience by being vigilant and spearheading the sensitisation among their members.
Mr Victor Abo-Ame Akanbonga, the Upper East Regional Programmes Officer for the National Commission on Small Arms, and Light Weapons, advised the tricycle riders to remain vigilant regarding passengers’ luggage, as they could unknowingly facilitate the illegal flow of firearms into the country.
The Head of Operations and Intelligence at the Paga sector Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration Robert Ubindam, called for enhanced collaboration between security services and cross-border traders to combat crime effectively.
