The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday said Ghana will not sign an agreement with Washington to set up a military base in the country.
The Ghanaian President, who stated this in a television address, maintained that the two countries would ink a defence cooperation agreement, but was emphatic that “Ghana has not offered a military base, and will not offer a military base to the United States of America”.
The clarification is coming few days after hundreds of people took to the streets of Accra, Ghana’s capital to protest against a controversial military deal with Washington which was passed by parliament last week.
The aggrieved protesters had vowed to resume protest across the country if the President signs the pact. They had claimed that such agreement would undermine the country's sovereignty.
“The United States of America has not made any request for such consideration and, consistent with our established foreign policy, we will not consider any such request.
“I will never be the president that will compromise or sell the sovereignty of our country. I respect deeply the memory of the great patriots whose sacrifice and toil brought about our independence and freedom,” he assured added.
He berated the main opposition party, National Democratic Congress for opposing the agreement with the United States insisting that it was best for the security of the country.
“In consideration of the realities of our circumstances and the challenges to peace in our region in our time, we have deemed it prudent to continue the Co-operation Agreement with the United States of America. It will help enhance our defence capability, and offer an important layer of support in our common effort to protect the peace in our region.”
Both countries are working to forge closer ties between their armed forces but have denied reports that the US Government was planning to set up a military base in the Ghana.
