General News of Wednesday, 21 March 2018

Source: starrfmonline.com

We cannot back out of US mlitary deal – Government

Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul

The Government has stated that it cannot back out of the controversial military agreement with the United States of America despite public outcry and protests from the minority.

The Minority insists that government is selling Ghana’s sovereignty to the United States by allowing America to set up a military base in the country.

Pressure is mounting on government to pull out of the deal as security analysts warn that it could expose Ghana to terror attacks.

But addressing a news conference, the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul said Ghana cannot back out of the agreement due to previous agreements signed between Ghana and US.

“We have already signed a 1998 agreement, we have signed the 2015 agreement and we have already caught ourselves in this net and we cannot back out because this is just a combination of the two agreements,” the Bimbilla MP said Wednesday afternoon.

He reiterated that the US is not setting up a military base in Ghana adding that it is only a partnership between the two countries.

Government of Ghana, according to a leaked document, has approved the agreement with the US to set up a military base in Ghana and also allow unrestricted access to a host of facilities and wide-ranging tax exemptions to the United States Military—a claim the government of Ghana and the US denied.

“The United States has not requested, nor does it plan to establish a military base or bases in Ghana,” a statement by the US Embassy in Ghana said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Information Minister Mustapaha Hamid has also accused the minority in Parliament for leaking the document to the public.

According to him, the minority’s decision to leak the document to the media undermines the sanctity of parliament.