By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo
The following article was contributed by the Embassy of Morocco in Seoul to Diplomacy Journal for publication. –Ed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana has officially addressed on January 7 a document to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco, informing of its the decision to suspend diplomatic relations with the so-called “sadr” entity.
The timing of this decision is particularly significant, coinciding with the inauguration of Ghana's new President, H.E. Mr. John Dramani Mahama. This diplomatic act underscores Ghana's commitment to aligning its foreign policy with the “good-faith efforts made by the Kingdom of Morocco to reach a solution accepted by all parties".
The Government of Ghana formally communicated its decision through diplomatic channels, sending notifications to the Kingdom of Morocco, the African Union, and the United Nations, while reaffirming its support for Morocco's efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting political solution.
This support for Moroccan efforts is an explicit recognition of the initiatives led by His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, who since 2000 has been able to include the Moroccan Sahara issue in a dynamic of proactive and multilateral diplomacy.
Ghana is not the first nation to take this position. Since the advent of the reforms undertaken by Morocco in the management of the Sahara issue, several countries, both African and international, have chosen to break off or suspend their relations with the so-called "sadr" entity. To date, 46 countries, including 13 in Africa, have followed suit and withdrawn all official recognition of the "sadr" entity.
As a reminder, in 1979, Ghana was among the first to recognize the "rasd" entity, within the context of the cold war, an act that it has now erased, in accordance with recent geopolitical developments and aspirations for peace and stability in the Maghreb region and beyond.
