Ivory Coast Crisis: Critical Diagnosis of Ghana’s Position

Published on 15th February 2011

Gbagbo-Ouatarra Imbroglio: Is Ghana partisan?
Ghana is entangled in a diplomatic conundrum following President Mills’ declared position of non-involvement militarily in the Ivorian crisis and allegations of supporting Gbagbo. President Mills pronouncements on ECOWAS’ decision to use force to compel Incumbent Gbagbo to respect the will of Ivorians by  ceding  power to president elect-Ouattara has ignited an interesting conversation among experts and government officials. This article contributes to the conversation objectively examining Ghana’s position, especially some remarks by President Mills, in an attempt to unravel the validity of the allegation. It also analyzes the ramifications   of the rhetoric on Ghana’s reputation and geostrategic interests in the sub-region, Africa and the international community of nations.

As a security analyst, international  relations and legal scholar and  former service personnel,  I appreciate the sincerity in  President  Mills'  position of Ghana’s non-involvement militarily in the  Ivorian crisis  due to obvious political, economic and social  considerations.  Ghana’s non-involvement, argues President Mills and Gen. Smith,  stems from its overstretched Armed Forces and potential reprisals against Ghanaians resident in Ivory Coast and our oil rigs (mine). Ghana with pending elections, informed by the 2008 electoral violence, requires adequate internal security   for a violence-free 2012 elections. 

Ghana‘s  decision is well informed by  the  rational choice theory that  postulates that decision makers impute cost benefit -analysis  before acting, and actions are taken if the  benefit  exceeds  the costs and vice versa. Guided by his own cost-benefit analysis, President Mills rejects an immediate use of force and proposes patient diplomacy because an immediate use of force will intensify the crisis and reignite the Ivorian conflict with dire consequences for the Ivorians and Ghana.  Ghanaian residents in Ivory Coast and our oil rigs will be targets of attack by aggrieved conflict parties.

There is no doubt that Ghana, a “safe haven” and most stable closest  Ivory Coast’s neighbor, will be  burdened with hosting Ivorian refugees with  attendant strains on our economy and related adverse social and political implications. The Liberian war and refugees in Ghana attest to these concerns.  President Mills has genuine concerns and we must appreciate them.I support President Mills’ proposed patient diplomacy in line with Chapter VI of the UN Charter that encourages the exhaustion of pacifist mechanisms before the initiation of Chapter VII enforcement mechanisms that include the use of force.  The use of force is the last resort.

Very worrying  however, are President Mills other remarks and whether President Mills concurred  or not to  the  decision at  the meeting of  ECOWAS  Heads of State   to use  force to oust Incumbent Gbagbo if   he refuses to cede power to  the  legitimately elected President of  Ivory Coast-Lasane Ouattara. It seems he agreed in principle to the decision to use force without advancing Ghana’s concerns at the meeting.  President Mills' publicly declared position is therefore incongruous and paradoxical to his position at the meeting with fellow West African Heads of State.  This, in international diplomacy, constitutes a stab in their back, a mark of diplomatic dishonesty and a betrayal of trust by President Mills that may give credence to the allegations of supporting Gbagbo.Ouattara’s spokesman Patrick Achi, in reference to Ghana’s position, articulated this allegation when he stated, “I am not surprised by their position.  There’s a close relationship between them. At first people felt like this would be easy then, as time goes by, some feel they owe something to the guy.” 

President Mills’ diplomatic blunder,  due to decisional inconsistency,  has suicidal ramifications for Ghana’s reputation and integrity in international diplomacy that requires immediate rectification. Mills could have avoided this blunder if he had stated his position at the ECOWAS meeting of Heads of State. He could also  have had confidential bilateral discussions with each of his fellow Heads of State to discuss Ghana’s position to tactically court their support and understanding prior to the meeting of the Head of States.  I am confident they would have understood our position cognizant of Ghana’s unique historic contributions to the West African Collective Security system in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and United Nations peacekeeping. 

Gen. Smith also introduces an interesting dimension to the conversation. While advancing the security related reasons of Ghana’s non-involvement   in the use of force, Gen Smith seems to blame the ECOWAS Secretariat for not consulting experts before making   and submitting their decision to ECOWAS Heads of State.  Gen. Smith stated - “ECOWAS Secretariat should have consulted experts to critically analyze the crisis before asking Head of States to take a decision on that country.” Gen. Smith’s statement reveals an information gap between Ghana’s representatives on ECOWAS and the home government in relation to decision-making on sensitive diplomatic issues such as the use of force. This is a serious diplomatic anomaly  that   defies  a well acknowledged common diplomatic practice -“phone-home syndrome” -  that requires  state representatives on international organizations   to consult  and collaborate with  their home states before diplomatic decisions are made. On a sensitive issue such as the use of force, it is imperative that  state representatives’ contributions  to  the decision be informed by the interests and goals of their states to avoid distortions and contradictions in foreign policies. This relational collaborative gap must be bridged to ensure coherent, congruent and competent foreign policy decisions very much absent in our Ivorian crisis-related foreign policy.

We could have also  averted this blunder if  President Mills and his security  advisers, prior to  the decisions by the Secretariat and ECOWAS Heads of State,  had proactively met to discuss   and forecast Ghana’s  position  on the potential  use of force,  cognizant  of  ECOMOG’s historic involvement  in  conflict prone member states militarily. 

President Mills also erred and exhibited decisional inconsistencies by stating that “Ghana will support any government” while recognizing Ouattara  as the winner of the election  implicitly   acknowledging  his  legitimacy as the President-elect. Supporting any  government  includes supporting an illegitimate Gbagbo government. This position is unfortunate and derails   effective resolution of the Ivorian crisis because it sends wrong signals to the Gbagbo camp  and   feeds the allegations of Ghana’s tacit support for Gbagbo.  It emboldens and hardens  Gbagbo’s resolve  to ignore the popular demands of the Ivorian people,  ECOWAS,  AU and UN to cede power to the legitimate choice of Ivoirians because Ghana, a prime troop contributing  member  of the ECOWAS  collective security system, tacitly supports him. Ouattara’s camp similarly became hardened in their quest to claim their legitimate right of leading the Ivorian people by any means possible as unequivocally articulated by his spokesman, Achi. In response to Ghana’s   dismissal of the use of force,  Achi  stated “ I don’t  think President Ouattara is only counting on ECOWAS to move this forward” … “other options of  intervention exist.”  Both camps are currently hardened and deeply entrenched in their subjective positions and the potentialities of compromises for peaceful resolution of the impasse remain very limited. 

President Mills’ statements that “it is not for Ghana to choose a president for Cote D’Ivoire” and “Ghana does not take sides” constitute the most serious and damaging diplomatic blunder. The policy of 'not my business' contradicts and damages Ghana’s cherished historic contribution to international peace and security. In a globalised world  of structural linkages when collective security has assumed primacy in international security discourse,  President Mills’ position of 'not my business' stigmatizes  Ghana as apathetic, isolationist, divisive, a spoiler and an advocate of  collective insecurity.

Ghana by this policy finds itself on the wrong side of history opposed to collective security as an effective mechanism of attaining international peace and security reflected in the purpose and goals of the United Nations once headed by a proud son of Ghana, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Involvement in collective security to respond to a threat to international peace and security does not denote partiality or taking sides. Rather it denotes impartiality in the pursuit of the collective interests and resolution of a collective problem.  A state’s non-involvement in a collective security system in dealing with a violator/spoiler may imply its normal relations with the spoiler whose behavior has been censored by the international community. This may expose that state to the accusation of condoning that behavior by the spoiler. This is the situation we find ourselves now.

ECOWAS’ military option, if used as a last resort, challenges the usurpation of the sovereign rights of the Ivorian citizenry to elect their leader. The use of force serves as a deterrence to would-be violators and signals to the defenseless citizens that society does not brook  brutal acts  against innocent  people.  Refusal to act encourages further human rights violations and the cycle of impunity. Ghana is a signatory to the UN Charter and Article  1 of the UN Charter proclaims the realization, protection and promotion of human rights, through international cooperation,  as the purpose of the United Nations. Articles 55 and 56 of the Charter impose obligations on members to this end. In Articles 55 and 56 of the Charter, all members “pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization” to achieve the purpose in Article 1 of the Charter.  Chapter VIII of the UN Charter addresses the utilization of regional bodies such as ECOWAS to deal with matters relating to international peace and security consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN. Article 53 provides that regional bodies may take enforcement measures with the authorization of the Security Council.

The situation in Ivory Coast constitutes a threat to international peace and security reflected in global condemnation and measures to compel Gbagbo to cede power to Ouattara.  Apart  from Gbagbo’s usurpation of the  legitimate rights of the Ivorians,  reports of extra judicial killings along ethnic fault-lines,  refugee flow  (22,000)  and potential conflict spillage,  the  sequels of Gbagbo’s  recalcitrant and illegitimate cling to power,  constitute threats to international peace  and security.  The impasse has assumed an international dimension that requires international collective action. ECOWAS’ response, including the use of force, is legitimate once authorized by the Security Council or once it receives ex post support as per ECOMOG’s interventions in Liberia and Sierra Leone. I advocate the exhaustion of  pacific means to give Gbagbo  enough  time to blink  but if proved  otherwise,  the use of force should not be off the table- the last resort. I must caution that we should be watchful he does not utilize this period to  rearm and fortify himself rendering all other measures impossible.  Ghana’s position of 'not my business' rather derails the efforts of the West African Collective Security System  and sends wrong signals to would-be  violators that their acts will be  unchallenged and unpunished thereby perpetuating the cycle of impunity.   Ghana by this creates an environment and a precedence of collective insecurity in the sub-region.

Ghana proudly recognizes and has obligations thereof under the international norm of "responsibility to protect"  (R2P). R2P   redefines sovereignty to include states responsibilities to protect their citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Should the state be unable or refuse to protect them, the international community has a responsibility to take prompt and decisive collective action either diplomatically or militarily to protect the victims.  If the Ivorian crisis reaches the threshold of invoking R2P, it will be morally wrong for Ghana to ignore its moral obligation   “to protect “defenseless Ivorians.

Some  commentators have questioned ECOWAS  legitimacy in intervening to restore democracy invoking the provision in Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter that prohibits  the use of force by member states  against the territorial  integrity or political  sovereignty of any state in any manner inconsistent  with the purpose of the UN. Exceptions are for self defense and when authorized by the UN Security Council.  However, a new customary international law  seems to have  emerged  in international law discourse that  supports  intervention to restore democracy as  an exception to Article 2 (4) reflected in the Haiti case and ECOMOG’s involvement in Sierra Leone to restore the democratically elected President Kabbah to power.

Pro-democratic interventions do not threaten the state’s territorial integrity and violate the political independence of the state. Rather, interventions to restore democratically elected government support the political independence of a state  by enforcing the nation’s political will and sovereignty which is violated by the dictator who usurps the will of the people.This position is predicated on the fact that sovereignty derives from the will of the people informed  by  social contract theory. Thus, pro democratic interventions are consistent with the purpose of the UN as they seek to further human rights in accordance with the preamble and Article 55 of the UN Charter as well as the principle of self determination. Usurpation of the will of the Ivorian people by Gbagbo rather violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ivory coast.  An intervention by ECOWAS to restore the will of the Ivorian people (Ouattara as the president), restores the sovereignty and protects the territorial integrity of Ivory Coast.

A new historical epoch has dawned on Africa with strong commitments to collective security with ECOWAS  cited in collective security  discourse as a success story of regionalism  worthy of emulation by the rest of Africa. ECOWAS needs our support  to restore the legitimate will of the people of Ivory Coast as articulated by former UN Secretary General Kofi  Annan.  Kofi Annan states that “I join the many, led by the Economic Community of West African States and African Union who call on former President Laurent Gbagbo to step aside and respect the will of the people. They have chosen Alassane Outtara and no repression, however brutal and long, can undo this decision nor Mr. Ouattara’s legitimacy.”

In conclusion, Ghana has genuine reasons for its noninvolvement in  ECOWAS’ potential military intervention in the Ivorian crisis. Ghana’s reasons are overstretched service personnel and related internal security requirements, fear of reprisal against Ghanaians resident in Ivory Coast and our oil  rigs (mine). The president’s suggestion of exhaustion  of peaceful mechanisms is also laudable however his  remarks such as “ I support any government,” “it is not for Ghana to choose a president for Cote D’Ivoire” and “Ghana does not take sides” elicit inherent contradictions  in his avowed position that  betray the genuineness of his intentions  for noninvolvement. These  inconsistencies  may also be deem as acts of betrayal and  distrust by ECOWAS Heads of State and other stake holders such as African Union, European Union, and the UN.

Ghana seems to champion  collective insecurity  system in the region with  damaging ramifications for Ghana’s cherished global reputation and our future interaction within the community of nations. The tag of tacitly assisting former President  Gbagbo  is damaging. Ghana requires an immediate damage control  mechanism to redeem our image. We need an immediate diplomatic spin to reframe our position and adopt a strategic, balanced, concerned and objective  foreign policy on the Ivorian issue in order to reclaim our reputation in international diplomacy.

By Kofi Nsia-Pepra Ph.D.

The author is Assistant Professor of Political Science (International Relations/Comparative politics, public policy, conflict analysis and resolution and American politics) at Ohio Northern University, USA.   Kofi was a former officer of the Ghana Air Force (rank: Flight Lieutenant) and served with United Nations Assisted Mission in Rwanda and was Ghana Air Force detachment Commander with ECOMOG in Sierra Leone.


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