Absence of Foreign Fighters Act 'worrying' as more Ghanaian youth run to war zones and return as radicalised elements – CISA Ghana

At a sensitisation seminar for journalists on the theme: ‘The media and security in an election year”, organised by the Centre at its Adjiringanor headquarters in Accra on Friday, April 26, 2024, ahead of the 7 December 2024 general elections, CISA Chief Executive Officer, Ambassador Rasheed Inusah, who is a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), highlighted the importance of the Act and its role in mitigating and curbing the rising number of Ghanaian mercenary and extremist recruits.

Ambassador Inusah, who also served as Director-General of the Research Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, said the legislative lacuna is fostering the festering exploitative recruitment of local youth to fight foreign wars.

Similarly, Ambassador Inusah recounted how, in October 2017, there were reports that about 100 Ghanaian migrants joined ISIS in Libya, with some forcefully conscripted and others joining voluntarily for financial rewards and safety.

What is dire,, Ambassador Inusah underscored, "is the increasing threat of home-grown sleeper cells and lone wolves.".

Ambassador Inusah stressed the "need to have adequate safeguards to strengthen the capabilities of the security and intelligence agencies to keep Ghana safe."

"Significantly," Ambassador Rasheed Inusah highlighted that "the law maintains the government's focus on combating terrorism."

CISA is a non-governmental organisation within the security and intelligence domain, established by one of Ghana’s most distinguished, experienced, and longest-serving intelligence officers, Ambassador Rasheed Inusah