The Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has questioned President Mills on his true position on the Ivory Coast crisis, chiding him for wearing a double-face which he says will undermine the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
\nAccording to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, the president was part of the ECOWAS body that unanimously decided to back Mr Alansane Ouatarra, winner of the November elections as declared by the country\u2019s electoral commission, while at the same time he publicly declares that he is not in support of a military option which is part of the many options the ECOWAS is considering.
\nPresident Mills, answering questions at an editors\u2019 forum Friday, stated that Ghana cannot commit troops to Ivory Coast due to number constraints, adding that he personally thinks a military option in Cote d\u2019Ivoire will not resolve the stalemate.
\nHowever, Mr Prempeh who was contributing to discussions on Metro TV\u2019s Good Morning Ghana programme Monday stated that President Mills by this statement has caused a diplomatic blunder. He said the security implications of the crisis situation in Ivory Coast on Ghana does not even afford the president a chance to express his personal sentiments especially in the manner in which he did. \u201c\u2026I think that you have lost your personal opinion here when fire is brewing just around your house; You don\u2019t have a personal opinion,\u201d the MP said.
\nHe continued that \u201c\u2026ECOWAS met and our president was in full attendance\u2026and [then] decided that we have to support Ouatarra. We didn\u2019t hear a dissenting view\u2026 I thought that what was going on there were two sides of our mouths; that the President is not being straight with us\u2026\u201d
\nMr Prempeh explained that ECOWAS\u2019 decision to include a military option does not necessarily mean that they are going to strike militarily and that \u201ceven if they do strike militarily it doesn\u2019t mean that all the total membership of that body should be part of that thing. \u201c\u2026For the President to speak, not even as the representative of Ghana \u2026but to seek on his own behalf at such a national forum [to express his personal sentiments] was inappropriate.”
\nReacting to suggestions that ECOWAS may have lost credibility because it did not act on its threats to remove self declared President Laurent Gbagbo from office as at the deadline the body gave, the Manhyia MP said: \u201cwhen you have double-faced people going to ECOWAS and deciding to undermine the credibility of ECOWAS, it will come back to [nothing].
\nNigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo was sent by ECOWAS on a mediation trip in the Ivory Coast’s crisis last Sunday and Mr Prempeh thinks Obasanjo was sent to Ivory Coast \u201cbecause all of a sudden, we see the key actors in ECOWAS behaving in a very bad way. \u201c\u2026That is why I think on this particular point; the President has caused a diplomatic blunder\u2026\u201d
\nMeanwhile, John Jinapor who is spokesperson to Vice President Mahama and a co-panelist on the programme wondered why some people think the President has no business expressing his opinion on the issue. \u201c\u2026Why? What is wrong with that? Can\u2019t he express his opinion?\u201d John Jinapor asked.
\nHe said the President, in addition to his opinion, also stated government\u2019s position, citing personnel constraint as the main reason for Ghana\u2019s inability to support a military option in Cote d\u2019Ivoire.
\nMr Jinapor further explained that Ghana is also unable to contribute military troops because the country shares a border with Cote d\u2019Ivoire, and that there are numerous Ghanaians there, coupled with the fact that there are already 500 Ghanaian troops in the country currently protecting Mr Ouatarra.
\n\u201c\u2026We should use diplomatic means to ensure that we solve this problem rather than a military means\u201d he said, insisting that \u201cGhana will not be part of this issue of sending troops to take out President Gbagbo\u2026\u201d
\nHe stated that the President’s position is not only hinged on the limited strength of the military force but that Ghana will face financial and material consequences in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has questioned President Mills on his true position on the Ivory Coast crisis, chiding him for wearing a double-face which he says will undermine the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). According to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, the president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n