Dominic Nitiwul
The Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, has deflated allegation by the Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) and a section of the public that the government has agreed with United States of America Forces to establish a military base in Ghana, precisely at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.
The minister, who is the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Bimbilla, debunked the vile propaganda by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) when he laid in parliament yesterday an agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Government of the United States of America (USA) on defence cooperation, status of the United States Forces and use of agreed facilities.
Some Minority MPs are said to have gone public and expressed fear that the establishment of a US military base would gravely expose the country to global terrorism and also attract regional Islamic militant groups to invade the country and plunge it into a state of insecurity.
Speaking to a section of the parliamentary press corps after laying the agreement in parliament yesterday, the defence minister said he was surprised that the NDC was making political capital out of this, adding that the main opposition party which is desperate after losing power terribly only wants to create fear and panic by unnecessarily politicizing the joint military exercise.
According to Mr Nitiwul, the agreement is very clear and does not involve any establishment of a military base in Ghana by the US Forces in Ghana.
He explained that the US military is to deploy about 200 military personnel to Ghana to offer counter-terrorism training to men and officers of the Ghana Armed Forces and also men and officers of the Ghana Police Service, adding that “if it were to be military base, the US Forces would have deplored 2,000 or more military personnel to the country.”
He said the joint training exercise is not new and that the parent agreement between Ghana and the US has been there since 1998.
He noted that the current agreement brought to parliament is to allow the US military renovate and expand some facilities at the Kotoka International Airport to enable the US military safely keep its equipment needed for the joint military exercises.
The defence minister said the US military is expected to invest $20 million into this exercise and after the exercise, all those expanded facilities would be reverted to the Ghana Armed Forces and Ghana would be the greater beneficiary.
He said in recognition of the gesture, the government of Ghana is giving tax waivers to military vehicles and equipment that would be brought to the country for the joint military exercise and offer the military personnel diplomatic immunity.
The agreement, after being laid, was consequently referred to the Committee on Defence and Interior and the Committee of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for consideration and report back to the plenary.
The ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and NDC MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, pleaded with the speaker to allow the Committee on Foreign Affairs to scrutinize the said agreement, but the speaker rejected it outright and said since the agreement borders on security and legal matters, the two committees are the appropriate ones to look at the nitty-gritty of the agreement.
Embassy Denies Report
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Accra issued a statement insisting that its government is not going to establish any military base here in Ghana as being claimed.
“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,” a statement from the embassy has claimed.
It indicated, “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 $20 million 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. The United States and Ghana are planning three joint security exercises in 2018, which require access to Ghanaian bases by U.S. participants and those from other nations when included.”
By Thomas Fosu Jnr