UK, US not interfering in December polls – Lecturer

The United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) condemning political violence in Ghana and threatening to deny visas to violent politicians is not interference in the domestic affairs of the country, Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Evans Aggrey Darko has said.

The US and UK governments have issued separate statements condemning attacks on the Nima residence of the main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo during a health walk in Accra.

Some critics have said the two power houses are interfering in Ghanaian politics, but speaking to Emefa Apawu on 505 on Class 91.3FM on Tuesday 15 November, Dr Darko said the world is a global village hence what happens in Ghana affects other countries in other jurisdiction.

“I don’t see the US and the UK interfering in our domestic affairs. Ghana is all over the world participating in a number of peacekeeping operations throughout the world, does that amount to interference? We were in Cote D’Ivoire, we were in Liberia, we were in Sierra Leone, we’ve been in Lebanon and other places, that doesn’t mean we were interfering,” he stated.

“We operate a concept of sovereignty that we are politically independently sovereign but that concept is fictional because the world is a globalised village. Even after the support that we’ve got from the international community trying to craft this democracy for ourselves, those who have contributed towards nurturing our democracy are very much interested in what happens and how best you [use] their public resources and they must account for their stewardship,” Dr Darko added.

He further noted that: “If you cannot put your house in order as a third world country and we depend on handouts of others in other jurisdictions, they must be interested in what we do and how we conduct ourselves. I don’t think it amounts to interference at all”.