Accra, Ghana—After Wednesday’s attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo announced he would send 1,000 peacekeeping troops to America to help its fledgling democracy.
“We have a moral duty to help those less fortunate,” the president said in a joint session of parliament. “Our little white brothers and sisters need us.”
Akufo-Addo, who was reelected peacefully and without incident in December, said the first troops should arrive on American soil Saturday.
“I only hope the situation doesn’t worsen before we can help bring peace and freedom to that country,” the president said. “We don’t like to meddle, but the situation is desperate: Political violence, rampant disease, disputed elections, a despot trying to stay in power.”
Stephanie Sullivan, American ambassador to Ghana since 2018, declined an interview request but her office released a short statement: “Please don’t make me go back. It’s nice here.”
Inspired by the move, flourishing democracies in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa vowed to lend aid, though many expressed hope that the Americans would pull themselves up by their own bootstraps in the future.
“We have a saying in my country…give a man a fish and he eats for a day,” Namibian President Hage Geingob said, “But don’t waste time teaching him how to fish. It’s really pretty easy.”
Ghana has previously sent its armed forces to other global hotspots like South Sudan and Lebanon, but this the largest contingent of troops it has ever deployed. Most of the country supported the move, though one member of parliament, speaking on condition of anonymity, questioned the decision.
“Why do we have to send our people to these shithole countries?” he said.
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