By William
Yaw Owusu
Saturday
April 07, 2018
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s address that
sought to assure the nation that there will be no United States of American
military base in Ghana as being claimed particularly by the opposition National
Democratic Congress (NDC) has triggered a flurry of reactions.
The NDC has been firing from all cylinders since the
Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between the governments of Ghana and the US
was ratified by parliament.
This time round, the NDC is complaining about the president’s
posture during his address - which he had used to deflate the opposition
party’s propaganda that his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has sold the
whole Ghana to the Americans for a paltry $20 million - an allegation President
Akufo-Addo flatly rebuffed with alacrity.
Cynical
Manipulation
During his widely-publicized address Tuesday evening,
President Akufo-Addo was categorical that there is not going to be any US
military base and condemned what he called the ‘cynical manipulations’ of the
issues by his political opponents.
“So let me state with the clearest affirmation that
Ghana has not offered a military base, and will not offer a military base to
the United States of America. Indeed, 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,” he emphasized and added that Ghana
would only be interested in the Cooperation Agreement with the US.
“Surely, this is the kind of cynical manipulation by
reckless self-seekers, which, in the fullness of time, the people of Ghana will
acknowledge and condemn,” the president had fired back, adding, “And I am sure
that as the facts become clear and widely available, and as the people come to
terms with the evidence, they will reject the falsehood and deliberate attempts
to destabilize our peaceful country. Truth is sacrosanct.”
Unspeakable
Hypocrisy
President Akufo-Addo had said that submitting the
agreement to open scrutiny had helped to “expose the unspeakable hypocrisy of
the fraternity of some frontline politicians, who make a habit of running with
the hares and hunting with the hounds, who secretly wallow in the largesse of
the United States of America, whilst, at the same time, promote anti-American
sentiments to a populist constituency.”
The president said that he was ‘outraged’ by the ‘defamatory’
comments from his “political opponents, some of whose patriotism can be so
easily questioned that the sovereignty of this country has been sold by my
government and myself. 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.”
NDC’s
Reaction
In the ensuing heat, some elements, particularly in
the NDC who had said the president was scared to speak on the issue, have now gone
haywire, saying President Akufo-Addo appeared rather intolerant during his
address.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, NDC MP for North Tongu, who
was one of the elements who asked the president to speak on the matter, now
says he (president) displayed intolerance.
He sent a tweet immediately the head of state finished
addressing the nation saying cheekily, “Terribly sad night indeed.
This is not
how a president talks down to his own people. The intolerant, condescending and
insulting response to genuine concerns of Ghanaians from all sections of
society is very regrettable.”
NDC General Secretary Johnson Aseidu Nketia said on Accra 100.5 FM yesterday that President Akufo-Addo
did not show leadership by attacking those persons who had opposed the deal and
said he (president) was playing diversionary tactics.
“He failed to show leadership as far as our security
is concerned. He chose to insult his opponents rather than speak to the issues.
He has no answers to the issues we have raised and, so, he wants to divert
attention from the real issues. We are not going to fall for his diversionary
tactic and swallow this debate; we will continue to raise those issues,” Mr
Asiedu Nketia assured.
Bombande
Angle
Emmanuel Bombande, a former deputy minister of
foreign affairs under President John Mahama, said it was ‘outrageous’ for
President Akufo-Addo to talk about the anti-American sentiments displayed by
the NDC, even though he agrees that the NPP government had not sold the
sovereignty of Ghana to the Americans as claimed by his NDC party.
Gov’t
Fights Back
However, a Deputy Chief of Staff, Samuel Abu Jinapor,
put up a spirited defence of the president, reiterating that the NDC was only engaged
in ‘falsehood’ and ‘propaganda.’
“President Akufo-Addo is only outraged by the
calibre of persons who are out there for the height of political opportunism
just because of immediate political gain,” he fired. Here is absolutely no
sincerity in any submission or claim made by Honourable Okudzeto and or the
NDC, and that is exactly what the president has sought to expose,” he fired.
Moses Foh-Amoaning, a senior lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, said on Oman FM yesterday that President Akufo-Addo was simply being the “old
Akufo-Addo that some of us have come to know him.”
According to the legal luminary, “He is passionate
about everything he does for this country. If you had been in touch with him in
the past you would have noticed that the president was being real. He pushes
for things with passion.”
Dr Lloyd Amoah, a lecturer at the University of
Ghana, posted on social media platform - Facebook
- that “the president was firm” and had dealt with the issues in a robust
manner.
“The president was firm and robust in his choice of
words. He needed that to calm the waters. But this is what his men and women
should have done earlier on this matter - present the matter to the people with
the facts and figures and apprise the people of plans afoot within the context
of existing agreements.
A leaked document will have been an exercise in
futility,” Dr Amoah pointed out.
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