....Dark Clouds Loom Over $55 million Loan

Even before the controversy surrounding the $1 billion International Finance Consortium goes down, another storm has begun gathering over a new loan of $55 million. The loan, which has been described as commercial, is being sought from the Barclays Bank and it is intended to buy equipment for the Ghana Armed Forces.

The Insight newspaper quotes sources in Parliament as saying that the government has asked Parliament to approve the loan. The equipment will be used for UN peace keeping operations in Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and La Cote D?Ivoire.

The paper says the question that arises is why Ghana should be obtaining a commercial loan for peace-keeping operations when the UN provides for the upkeep of soldiers as well as equipment used.