General News of Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Source: classfmonline.com
2018-03-21
Former Attorney General, Dr. Yao Obed Asamoah
Former Attorney General Dr. Yao Obed Asamoah has questioned why Ghana, which is part of a continent described as “shithole” by U.S. President Donald, opt to host an American military base.
Per a security agreement between the two countries, Ghana would, among others, provide “unimpeded access to and use of agreed facilities and areas to United State forces, United States contractors, and others as mutually agreed. Such agreed facilities and area: or portions thereof, provided by Ghana shall be designated as either for exclusive use by Unite States forces or to be jointly used by United States forces and Ghana. Ghana shall also provide access to and use of a runway that meets the requirements of United States forces”.
Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul, has, however, denied the U.S. will be building a military base per the agreement.
The U.S. Embassy in Ghana has also denied same. In a statement, the Embassy said on Tuesday, 20 March 2018 that: “The United States Embassy wishes to underscore that the United States has not requested, nor does it plan to establish a military base or bases in Ghana.”
“The current Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana, is approximately 20 years old. It does not cover the current range and volume of bilateral exercises and assistance.
“This year, the United States of America is investing over $200million in training and equipment for the Ghanaian armed forces. Ghana is also once again preparing to train U.S Forces as it did in 2017”.
Speaking on the issue, however, Dr Asamoah told Starr FM’s Francis Abban on Wednesday, 21 March that if he had the opportunity, he’ll advise President Nana Akufo-Addo against signing such an agreement.
“I’ll tell him that he should take a second look at this; that it is not advisable to do this kind of thing, and then let’s face it, the polarisation is beginning to become a matter of concern: the Russians on one side, the Chinese on another side, the Americans on the other side, the Western European countries on the other side. Now you can’t even put the Americans and Western Europeans together. Donald Trump is really upsetting the apple cart. So, you’ve got to do things in such a way that you don’t seem to have firmly put yourself in any particular camp. That is what I will tell him.
“This kind of agreement will be putting us in the American camp and with President Donald Trump, you don’t know what he’s going to do, he can drag you into all kinds of dangerous situations, people question his sense of judgement. In any case, if you say Africans are shitholes, why should a shithole be providing a base, or the president didn’t hear that? My friend, we have to be careful,” the 82-year-old politician warned.