Former deputy Interior Minister, James Agalga, has stated that the United States of America (USA) can exploit clauses in the Ghana-US Defence Agreement, to overthrow Ghanaian governments.
He was of the view that the deal provides fertile grounds for Ghana to be used “as a launch pad to invade other countries”, adding that “governments in this country could even be toppled [and] we have seen that happen elsewhere”.
“In all truth and sincerity, you know what happened in Cote d’Ivoire? The French military based in Abidjan overthrew a sitting government. So, today, things could be rosy but think about tomorrow.
“That is why the Minority thinks taking all these into consideration, our sovereignty is at stake here,” he explained.
Ghana’s parliament approved the military agreement on Friday, 23 March. Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye said after the approval that the “house adopts the report from the joint committee on defence and interior.”
The approval was done by only the majority side of parliament with the minority staging a walkout.
As part of the agreement, the US government will be spending $20 million in training and supplying equipment for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), the US Embassy in Ghana has said.
It also indicated that Ghana has also agreed to bear the cost of the primary responsibility of securing US military facilities in the country.
According to the contract, Ghana has granted US contractors tax exemption and the US Forces will also enjoy exclusive unimpeded access to certain key installations and facilities while being backed by diplomatic immunity.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa North constituency explained that the Minority is opposed to the agreement because of the unimpeded access it gives US forces.
According to him, Article 7 of the new agreement, which is in relation to prepositioning and storage of equipment, supplies and material, indicates that: “The United States Forces are hereby authorised to preposition and store defence equipment, supplies and material at agreed facilities and areas. Reposition material of United States Forces and the agreed facilities and areas or portions thereof designated for storage of such preposition material shall be for the exclusive use of United States Forces. United States Forces shall retain title to and control over the use of preposition material and shall have the right to remove such item from the territory of Ghana”.
He stated that: “The material has not been defined in this agreement even though there is an interpretation article” and “the big danger is that what we have done [approval] could allow the Americans to bring into this country nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and you know the dangers associated with that…You know what is happening in Syria with chemical weapons”.
Mr Agalga was emphatic that the government cannot go into an agreement “that has terminology that you know next to nothing about and I interrogated the Generals who appeared before us and nobody has a clue including the Honorable Minister regarding the exact meaning of material so this is a fundamental difference between this and the previous agreement that we went into,”
He made the comments when he appeared as a guest on Joy FM’s Newsfile on Saturday, 24 March 2018.
Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline.com
