Ghana has lost at least 55 of its citizens to the war in Ukraine, and two others remain in captivity as prisoners of war, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has disclosed.
The casualty figures emerged during high-level discussions in Kyiv between Ghana’s delegation and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha. Ukrainian authorities provided the data, outlining the scale of African involvement in the conflict.
According to Mr Ablakwa, Ukrainian intelligence assessments show that 272 Ghanaians have been drawn into the war since 2022 through transnational criminal trafficking networks. The broader briefing indicated that 1,780 Africans from 36 countries are believed to have been recruited under similar conditions to fight against Ukraine.
In a social media post reacting to the revelations, the minister described the toll as devastating. “These are not mere statistics; they are Ghanaian lives cut short, and families shattered.”
He warned that the country cannot ignore what he characterised as the systematic targeting of young people for foreign battlefields.
“This is not our war. We cannot allow our young people to be used as human shields in a conflict that does not concern Ghana,” he said.
Mr Ablakwa signalled that the government would escalate its response at home, promising wider public awareness campaigns and a crackdown on recruitment syndicates.
“We are determined to track and dismantle every illegal recruitment scheme operating within our jurisdiction, including those on the dark web,” he stated.
While in Kyiv, the Ghanaian delegation visited the Wall of Remembrance to lay flowers in tribute to those killed in the conflict. The trip also included talks aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation, with a focus on tackling human trafficking and shutting down illicit recruitment channels.
