By Kwaku Forson-Asimenu(24/1/13)

My profession makes me new contacts everyday. Often, some of the acquaintances become good friends over a long period of time. A recent one(last quarter of 2008) is a Malian businessman who represents a multinational in West Africa and resides in a community in the Central Region bordering the greater Accra Region.
When the recent French intervention in the Malian –Azawad province matter led to spillover terrorism in Algeria, I decided to engage this friend in a political discussion. I was shocked.
My friend, let’s call him Baba, was a classmate to Moussa Asarid and Seidane-Sede Lamine ( Medical Doctor in Bamako) who areTuaregs and key leaders in the Azawad project. These are the people who have formed an alliance with offshoots of Al Qaeda in the Sahel Region. Baba, who claims to be a Sonrai (Songhai) indicated that his home village falls within the disputed zone but he is not in support of the insurgency; he disagreed with his Tuareg friends in the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. Otherwise I was alarmed and had started wondering if my friend was a terrorist or a rebel or any combination of the same.
Not long ago, Ble Goude, the Ivorian was arrested in Accra and extradited to Cote D’Ivore. How many of such elements are walking the streets of Accra and the rest of the country? Is Ghana not habouring too many of such elements already? What could be their possible impact in the current political climate in the country?
Recently, a Ghanaian tabloid reported of a bomb scare. Even though the story has not been corroborated by the military or mainstream media, I think it should cause us to sit up.
The security agencies should start public education to sensitise the country to be more security conscious. Col. Atintande, the ball is in your court.