Ghana Calls for Global Rejection Of Nuclear Weapons

Ghana has renewed its call for the total abolition of nuclear weapons, urging African nations and the international community to reject weapons of mass destruction and strengthen cooperation toward a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Opening the West and Central African Regional Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in Accra, Ambassador Khadija Iddrisu, Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed that sustainable global security cannot be achieved through nuclear weapons.

“Sustainable security cannot be built on weapons of mass destruction but on cooperation and respect for human life,” she said, noting that rising geopolitical tensions have heightened the risks posed by nuclear arms.

The conference, organised jointly by the Governments of Ghana and Austria, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), brought together government officials, regional bodies, civil society groups, and international partners.

Ambassador Iddrisu reaffirmed Ghana’s long-standing commitment to nuclear disarmament, recalling the stance of the country’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who warned that nuclear weapons represented “the greatest threat to the survival of mankind.” She highlighted that Ghana’s unanimous parliamentary ratification of the TPNW in June 2025 reaffirmed the country’s moral leadership at a time of growing global insecurity.

The conference featured four thematic sessions focusing on Africa’s security concerns, the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, obligations under the TPNW, and pathways to universalisation ahead of the Treaty’s First Review Conference later in 2026, to be held under South Africa’s presidency.

Participants, including officials from the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), ECOWAS, the African Union, security institutions, academia, and civil society, discussed the catastrophic humanitarian, environmental, and developmental consequences of nuclear weapons.

Deputy Head of Mission of the Austrian Embassy in Ghana, Sandra Gintsberger, called on African states to strengthen efforts toward universal adherence to the Treaty.

 “Nuclear weapons do not provide sustainable security. They represent an existential risk to humanity,” she said, stressing that broader ratification would enhance the Treaty’s impact.

Acting Coordinating Director for Multilateral and International Organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Francis D. Kotia, reaffirmed Ghana’s leadership in global disarmament initiatives. He recalled President Nkrumah’s warning to the United Nations that nuclear weapons amounted to “a policy of genocide for the African people,” urging West and Central African states to translate shared commitments into concrete national and regional action.