According to latest rankings from the Global Peace Index, Ghana is the 4th most peaceful nation in Africa.
Known as the “gateway to West Africa”, Ghana has over the years enjoyed good publicity and status when it comes to peace and security in the sub-region with most calling it a hospitable environment.
The nations of Mauritius, Botswana and Malawi beat Ghana to take the first, second and third spots respectively as the most peaceful countries on the continent.
On the world stage, Ghana, failed to make top 10 and made the 44th position with Iceland taking the overall spot as the most peaceful country in the world. With Yemen, South Sudan and Iraq taking the bottom spot as the least most peaceful countries in the world
“Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, and Denmark. Bhutan has recorded the largest improvement of any country in the top 20, rising 43 places in the last 12 years,” the report said
Interestingly, Ghana also beat its former colonial master, the United Kingdom and the United States of America on the chart.
In recent times, several foreign missions in Ghana have issued severe notes of caution to its citizens as they travel to Ghana due to what they described as the “state of insecurity, kidnappings and threats of terrorism by religious extremists.”
The report also revealed that the world has been less peaceful than it was a decade ago. It attributed terrorist activity, the intensification of conflicts in the Middle East, rising regional tensions in Eastern Europe and northeast Asia, increasing numbers of refugees, and heightened political tensions in Europe and the US to the deteriorating peace in the world as part of the reason why the world was experiencing less peace.
As Ghana looks forward to receiving members of the diaspora who will be visiting the country for the “Year of Return”, the index will serve as confidence booster and publicity to its damaged image on peace and security. It, however needs to focus on tackling the loop holes that exist in its security apparatus and intelligence gathering.