According to a recent two-day poll conducted by the respected research firm Global InfoAnalytics on August 18 and 19, around 52% of Ghanaians are against Ghana’s involvement in a military intervention to restore democracy in Niger.
The survey gathered data from 1,618 respondents spread across all sixteen regions of Ghana. One noteworthy finding from the poll is that approximately 76% of Ghanaians believe that coups in African countries have primarily occurred due to poor governance. On the other hand, 17% of respondents do not hold this perspective, while 7% remain undecided on the matter.
According to the survey, 49% of Ghanaians are of the opinion that coups do not offer a lasting solution to address issues of poor governance. In contrast, 43% of respondents disagree with this notion, and 8% have not formed an opinion on the matter.
In the aftermath of the removal of Niger’s President, Mohamed Bazoum, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) took the decision on August 10 to deploy its standby force to reinstate constitutional governance in the country.
This move came after numerous unsuccessful attempts to achieve a peaceful resolution through negotiations. Omar Alieu Touray, the President of ECOWAS, announced this resolution during the ECOWAS Extraordinary meeting held in Abuja.
One week after the directive, a meeting of the Chiefs of Defense Staff from ECOWAS member countries was convened in Accra on August 17.
The purpose of this meeting was to deliberate on the situation in Niger and to discuss potential strategies and actions, including the mobilization of personnel, to address the crisis and restore constitutional order in the country.