ABSTRACT

A major gap in literature on the Ghana Police Service (GPS) is the lack of scholarly work on the Service’s role in international peacekeeping as a means by which Ghana promotes its national interest and foreign policy objectives. This study assessed the GPS’ participation in international peacekeeping operations as a modern tool of foreign policy within the context of its achievements and challenges, through the utilization of primary and secondary data. Major findings of the study indicate that the GPS’s involvement in international peacekeeping has contributed to an enhanced image of Ghana in the International System (IS), improved capacity, general well-being and represent a strategy for entrenching Ghana’s position among her peers, as a member of International Institutions. The study, therefore, concluded that the Government of Ghana should re-consider its utilization of the GPS’ high reputation in international peacekeeping as a tool for modern diplomacy. The recommendations are a review of how the GPS is effectively utilized within the overall strategy of achieving Ghana’s foreign policy objectives is conducted to ensure the re-tooling of the GPS as a means of positioning them to continue to excel and raise high the flag of Ghana among the comity of nations.

CHAPTER ONE

RESEARCH DESIGN

    Background to the Study

The Ghana Police Service (GPS) has been participating in peacekeeping operations on the sub-regional, regional and international levels since the 1960s.¹ This is in fulfillment of Ghana’s commitment to its foreign policy objectives of promoting respect for international laws, treaty obligations, and settlement of international disputes by peaceful means.² It is also for adherence to the principles enshrined in the charters of the organizations of which Ghana is a member state.³ Ghana is a member of the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Commonwealth, and the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group⁴. Ghana, is also bound by the treaty obligations as well as the various protocols, decisions and resolutions concluded by these organizations with respect to peacekeeping and security maintenance in the international frontiers.⁵

Ghana’s participation in peacekeeping operations, particularly, that of the United Nations, is driven by a deep-rooted commitment to help maintain international peace and security as enshrined in the UN Charter.⁶ More importantly, this commitment is underpinned by domestic legal principles and values that are set out in Ghana’s Republican Constitution of 1992.⁷ Explicitly, Article 40 states that Ghana should:

(c) promote respect for international laws, treaty obligations and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means; and (d) adhere to the principles enshrined in or as the case may be, the aims and ideals of: (i) the Charter of the United Nations; (ii) the Charter of African Union; (iii) the Commonwealth; (iv) the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States; and (v) any other International Organizations of which Ghana is a member.⁸

Politically, Ghana’s engagement in peacekeeping offers the country an opportunity to exert influence in world affairs and enhance its image and prestige in the international community.⁹ This suggests that Ghana has the obligation and the legal mandate to participate in activities spearheaded by these organizations including international peacekeeping operations.¹⁰ The activities include but are not limited to good neighborliness, the promotion and protection of Ghana’s interests for a just and equitable international economic system and social order, leading roles in negotiation and mediation efforts in sub-regional conflicts; sheltering refugees from conflict-ridden countries in the sub-region; and the maintenance of friendly relations with neighbouring countries.¹¹

Ghana, for instance, is currently one of the African countries with large numbers of Police in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). A total of 394 Police personnel were deployed in 2016 which is in line with Ghana’s commitment to maintenance of international peace and security.¹² The United Nations Information Centre, Accra also noted that Ghana is ranked 8th on the list of 122 countries contributing Police and other personnel to UN peacekeeping operations with a record of 236 Police personnel serving on nine UN peacekeeping operation Missions out of the 17 Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)-led peace operations as at April 2014. ¹³

Aubyn and Aning reiterate that Ghana has been one of the top ten contributors to peacekeeping Missions for more than five (5) decades since Ghana’s first participation in the UN peacekeeping operation in the Congo (ONUC).¹⁴ Over 80,000 Ghanaian security personnel, including the Police have served in various capacities in more than 30 UN Missions as at 30 September 2015, with a total number of 353 Police personnel.¹⁵ As at June, 2017, the Ghana Police Service had contributed 394 Police personnel to UN peacekeeping

operations.¹⁶ Aboagye specifies some of the peacekeeping Missions that the Ghana Police Service (GPS) has contributed to which are of varying degree of complexity. These include the United Nations Yemen Observation Mission (UNYOM) – from July, 1963 to September, 1964; the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) – from 1978 to date and the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) peacekeeping interventions in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.¹⁷ More recently, the Ghana Police Service contributed to the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA)¹⁸ and the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).¹⁹

The impetus for the Ghana Police Service to contribute to international peacekeeping operations such as the UN operations in the realization of Ghana’s foreign policy objectives is articulated in Article 40 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, which is the supreme law of Ghana. This law stipulates the fundamental principles that guide the formulation and the conduct of foreign policy.²⁰ It is in the light of this that the study sought to assess GPS’ participation in international peacekeeping operations as a modern tool for foreign policy pursuit within the context of achievements and challenges therein.

    Statement of the Problem

Even though, Ghana has consistently contributed Police personnel to peacekeeping efforts across the world, regardless of the regime in power, for more than five decades leading to worldwide recognition as a committed member of the UN to maintenance of international peace and security, the Ghana Police Service’ remains one of the under-researched areas in the peacekeeping literature in Africa.²¹ Further, the GPS attributable contribution to the achievement of Ghana’s Foreign policy through enhanced image on the international scene has not been adequately documented. The few studies available focus on the country’s

historical experiences in general without further elaborating on the achievements and the challenges with regards to Ghana’s foreign policy objectives.

The GPS as part of their roles in peacekeeping provides protections for UN installations, refugee camps and support training and rehabilitation of the host Police Service. The ultimate aim of the roles performs tend to return such countries back to democracy. These roles played by the GPS invariably support Ghana’s commitment to international peace and security, and good neighbourliness²² – foreign policy values entrenched in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

This apparent low research and recognition of the contributions of the Ghana Police Service to promoting the country’s image on the international scene, is an attributable factor in how the GPS is logistically challenged in many areas, such as technological surveillance in crime trucking and arrest, personnel protective accoutrements and research. Former Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor during his tenure indicated that the inadequate empirical studies on the activities of the GPS both domestically and internationally was affecting the growth, professional competency and innovation in the Service.²³

In view of the concerns raised, the study sought to examine the achievements and challenges of the GPS’ participation in international peacekeeping operations, as a tool for achieving Ghana’s foreign policy objectives and add to literature on the GPS’ contribution to foreign policy execution.

    Research Questions

• What roles do the Ghana Police Service play in the international peacekeeping operations?

• Is there a correlation between GPS international peacekeeping operations and Ghana’s foreign policy pursuits?
  • What are the achievements and challenges of the GPS’s participation in international peacekeeping operations?

    Objectives of the Study

The general objective of the study was to assess the achievements and challenges of the Ghana Police Service’s participation in international peacekeeping and its contribution to achievement of the foreign policy objectives of the country. Specifically, the study sought:

• To assess the role of the Ghana Police Service in international peacekeeping operations.
  • To establish the correlation between GPS international peacekeeping operations and Ghana’s foreign policy.
  • To assess the achievements and challenges of the Ghana Police Service’s participation in international peacekeeping operations.

    Rationale of the Study

The study endeavours to examine the achievements and challenges of the GPS’ participation in international peacekeeping with the aim of enlightening the foreign policy-makers (i.e. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the Ghana Police Service the reality on the ground. It also aims to establish whether such peacekeeping efforts contribute to the success of Ghana’s foreign policy objectives. Additionally, it is hoped that the study would contribute significantly to existing literature. Lastly, it will serve as a reference point to those who wish to conduct similar study.

    Hypothesis

The Ghana Police Service’s participation in international peacekeeping contributes to the attainment of Ghana’s foreign policy objectives.

    Scope of the Study

The study reviews seven (7) selected international peace support Missions to which Ghana has contributed over the five decades of Ghana’s participation in international peacekeeping, starting from its maiden troop contribution to the UN peacekeeping Mission in the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1960, till date. The seven Missions selected for review are among Ghana’s major contributions to international peacekeeping, which encompasses the entire history of Ghana’s participation in international peacekeeping. It, therefore, provides an opportunity for investigation into the extent to which such peacekeeping operations contribute to the achievement of the country’s foreign policy objectives in the short, medium and long terms.

    Theoretical Framework of the Study: Liberal Institutionalism Theory

Liberal institutionalism is a theory of international relations derived from liberalism which claims that international institutions and organizations such as the United Nations, NATO  and the European Union can increase and sustain cooperation among states.²⁴ It is an approach to international relations which highlights interdependence and the role of institutions in facilitating cooperation among States and non-state actors. It also emphasizes a belief in international progress, interdependence, cooperation, diplomacy, multilateralism, and support for international political structures and organizations.²⁵ Thus, it places emphasis on the role that common goals play in the international system and the ability of international organizations to get states to cooperate. Liberal institutionalism contends that emphasis

should be placed on global governance and international organizations as a way of explaining international relations.

The proponents of Liberal Institutionalism Theory (LIT) include Lipson (1984), Milner (1992) and Keohene (2005). Robert Keohene expanded the theory in 2012 due to its relevance to the study in terms of peace and security enhancement in international relations. The advocates are of the view that institutions could initiate effective interstate cooperation to regulate the conduct of state behaviour. The central tenets of the liberal institutionalist tradition are that states can achieve cooperation, and international institutions can help them work together to promote respect for political independence and territorial integrity, sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs of each member state. Liberal institutionalism argues that with the right policies in place, the international system provides the best opportunities for cooperation and interaction; for instance, the successful integration of Europe through the European Union or regional blocs and economic agreements such as ASEAN or the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).²⁶ The ramifications of this view are that if states cannot cooperate, they ought to be controlled, through economic sanctions or military action. For example, before the invasion of Iraq by the United States and United Kingdom in 2003, the governments claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. For this reason, Iraq was seen as a bad state that needed to be dealt with because they represented some form of danger to global security and peace. Thus, the invasion could be seen as dealing with a bad state under liberal institutionalism.²⁷

Proceeding to the development of liberal institutionalism, liberalists contended that the anarchical nature of the international system and its constraining effects on interstate cooperation could be improved through international institutions. This suggests that the

liberalist believed that international institutions can boost cooperation and support between states thereby promoting interstate or regional relations which can avert wars.²⁸ Proponents believed that anarchism, disorder, lawlessness, chaos and rebellion in international system can be controlled through liberal democratization, liberal economic interdependence, and liberal institutionalism.²⁹ Consequently, some scholars posited that international anarchy can be eliminated using collective actions through liberal institutions.³⁰ Woodrow Wilson further noted that the ultimate goal of collective security is to achieve international peace and security. Chaturvedi explained collective security as an arrangement arrived at by nations to protect their critical interests, safety and integrity against plausible threat or menace over particular period by means of combining their powers.³¹

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