The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has cautioned President Nana Akufo-Addo to come clean on the alleged military deal between Ghana and the United States that gives the US army unfettered access to some facilities close to the Kotoka International Airport.
The controversial agreement which has generated heated debate in the country will also exempt the US from paying tax on equipment imported into the country and further permit the setting up of a telecommunication system on Ghana’s radio spectrum for free.
The opposition together with some civil society groups, earlier staged a demonstration against the MoU calling on the Defense Minister, Dominic Nitiwul and government to annul the deal, arguing that it was a betrayal of Ghana’s sovereignty.
With some former presidents like Jerry John Rawlings and John Dramani Mahama questioning the benefit of the deal to Ghana, some have urged President Nana Akufo-Addo to break his unusual silence on the deal.
Subsequently, the presidency through the Information Ministry have announced the president’s decision to speak on the issue.
But addressing a presser at the party’s headquarters, General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia warned the president to desist from uttering any falsehood when he address the nation later tonight.
According to him, Ghanaians will be willing to forgive and understand the position of government if the president comes clean on the deal and the conditions attached, instead of trying to deceive the public.
“We don’t want him to come and engage in the same propaganda gimmicks that his two ministers, that is Mustapha Hamid and Dominic Nitiwul have subjected the nation to. We want him to come clean and tell us what the deal entails and whether what we even have in public as the conditions in the deal is true. We need to know."
The General Secretary also asked the president to address recent happenings in the country, including the tussle between Member of Parliament for Assin Central Constituency, Kennedy Agyapong and the military high command.
“Honorable Kennedy Agyapong has alleged that there is something cooking in the Ghana Arm Forces and we need him to be picked up so he can tell us what is cooking. The president needs to call him to order. How can an MP sit on radio and insult a whole military command and nothing is done about it. He is disrespecting the institution, he has to be called to order.”
He further called for a probe into the deportation of some 50 “Ghanaian journalist” from Australia, who were supposedly sent by the Sports Ministry to cover the Commonwealth Games.
