Details of military agreement with US bad; security expert demands review

A security expert, Emmanuel Kotin is in  total support of Members of Parliament demanding that government withdraws a military cooperation agreement with the United States of America from Parliament. He told Stephen Anti on TV3’s News@10 Tuesday that the agreement is bad and ought to be reviewed immediately. The Executive Director of African Center for Security and Counter Terrorism noted that the agreement has been couched in a way that suggests Ghana “needs them more than they need us”, but in his assessment that cannot be the case. Earlier report had suggested that the US government intended to set up a military base in Ghana, but it has been denied by both parties – the Government of Ghana and America Embassy in Ghana. Emmanuel kotin therefore wants conversations on the agreement to be devoid of the usual partisan politics as he appeals to Ghanaians to argue based on the substance. “The bill is a bad one for Ghana,” he asserted, “bringing it to parliament means government is opened and wants Ghanaians to know what is going on, but it is a bad one.” He warned that granting the Americans “unlimited access for staging and deploying forces” would contravene ECOWAS convention bothering on security as well as sovereignty of member states. Mr. Kotin is asking government to do “broader consultations” on the agreement, which he believes would allay the fears of many who dread the consequences of such a military agreement. “Majority of Ghanaians cannot be wrong…majority of Ghanaians are against it…we are indirectly selling our sovereignty to the Americans,” he argued. He pointed out that Americans would not allow Ghana to have such an agreement on their land because they always seek to defend the interest of their country, and wondered why Ghanaians cannot do same. By Isaace Essel | 3news.com | Ghana]]>