General News of Saturday, 31 March 2018

Source: mynewsgh.com

I’m not against the United States - Brogya Genfi clears the air

Brogya Genfi Brogya Genfi

A plaintiff in a suit against the government of Ghana and the Defense Ministry over the controversial Ghana-US military cooperation agreement, Yaw Brogya Gyamfi has told MyNewsGh.com in an exclusive interview that he is not against the United States.

According to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Youth Organiser hopeful, his decision to head to the Supreme Court is only to seek clarity and also compel the authorities to follow the right procedures at ensuring that the right thing is done in respect of the Ghana-US military cooperation agreement

“I want a proper procedure to be followed. I also want to ensure that our laws are respected by our leaders (Executive and Parliament)…. I want all agreements between Ghana and any country (not US alone) to be in the collective interest of our nation Ghana”, he stressed.

According to him, he is a direct beneficiary of US training under the auspices of the International Visitors Leadership Programme and therefore will be the last to kick against such an initiative provided it is good for the citizenry.

“I am a beneficiary of US training through the International Visitors Leadership Programme in June 2017. As a US trained, in civic participation and to ensure that the right things are done, always. During the presentation of certificates by the US Ambassador at the US embassy in Accra, Ambassador Robert … tasked all awardees to go out and make a difference by ensuring that our country benefits from our training”, he explained.

Stressing on his rationale for heading to the court over the matter, he said it was in line with Article 75(2) of the constitution in view of the fact the agreement was not executed before the parliamentary ratification

“Article 15 of the Agreement takes away Ghanaians right to seek for redress in Court when their rights are abused by assigns of the agreement as enshrined in Article 33 of the constitution. The agreement is not in the interest of Ghana as demanded by Article 73 of the constitution”, he added.