The Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, James Agalga, has asked the Executive to obtain parliamentary approval before participating in any war – whether it has been sanctioned by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) or not.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, the Builsa North MP highlighted the fundamental principles that he believed should guide the government before involving Ghana’s military in conflicts.

He stressed that seeking parliamentary approval is not merely a procedural but a crucial step in ensuring that the will of the citizenry is respected since their representatives will have a say in the decision to send soldiers into battle.

“If they come to parliament and the votes say 'Yes,' then they've sought the views of Ghanaians through their representatives. If you don't do that, that means you want to commit Ghanaian lives to battle,” he told Evans Mensah.

Mr Agalga also highlighted the humanity of soldiers, noting that they are parents, siblings, and family members to fellow Ghanaians, and therefore their commitment to war should not be taken lightly.

He also raised concerns about the financial implications of a war effort, especially if it were to become protracted. He questioned how the nation's troops would be funded and the potential strain on the country's resources.

“The war effort will require funding, how we are going to fund our troops, assuming they were to move into Niger and the war becomes protracted?” he quizzed.

Touching on an earlier meeting with the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, the legislator said although the meeting was just a consultation, the Minority Caucus’ stance on the matter remains unaltered.

“Our stance has still not changed. In any case, we were not even invited to change any stance. We were merely consulted. So if this comes to Parliament we would vote against it. We have made our opposition very clear that you cannot pit Africans against themselves to fight in a war.

“At the moment there is no humanitarian catastrophe in Niger, we are the ones going in there to create a humanitarian disaster for ourselves and I don’t think that is necessary,” he stressed.

Read more: Niger coup: West Africa nations to assemble ‘standby force’

Conversations surrounding the deployment of troops to Niger started after ECOWAS agreed to assemble a “standby” military force as part of interventions aimed at restoring Niger to constitutional rule following a coup on July 6.

They however did not give details on the side of the military force at the meeting held on Thursday. 

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu said that despite the approval to assemble a military intervention, the use of force would be a “last resort”.

Meanwhile, military chiefs from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet in Ghana on Thursday and Friday to discuss their next line of action.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Saturday in Accra but was postponed to this week as ECOWAS continues efforts to negotiate with the Abdourahmane Tchiani-led military government in Niamey.