The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), together with other opposition parties will be engaging in sensitisation on the perceived negative aspects of the Ghana-US defence cooperation agreement.
During the NDC unity walk in Wa, the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said the coalition would go round the various communities to explain why the deal is a “bitter pill”.
[contextly_sidebar id=”c1S4GYX79Or3dR4aXDJmm9udow7YHW5v”]On Friday, Mr Asiedu Nketia, speaking for the Inter-Party Coalition for National Sovereignty, said the other political parties remained opposed to the defence cooperation pact despite President Nana Akufo-Addo’s assurances in a national address.
They maintain that the government has mortgaged Ghana’s sovereignty for a paltry 20 million dollars.
“We will come back here not as NDC alone but as a coalition of political parties that want to fight the implementation of the agreement between Ghana and the United States. When we come, you will see all the Minority parties together. It is not going to be NDC alone, but we are all seeking the same voice. What we are saying is that we will not allow this country to be sold for $20 million.”
“…Before we come, we will come and do a community sensitization programme, and we will explain the conditions in the agreement that makes it unacceptable to Ghanaians and I am sure that with the support of all Ghanaians, no single President can push a bitter pill down our throats,” Mr Asiedu Nketia said.
The President had rubbished their fears, particularly the assertion that the US was going to establish a military base in the country.
He urged Ghanaians to ignore the NDC voices, describing them as hypocrites and naysayers during his speech on Thursday evening.
The President even went as far as describing some of the critics as being unpatriotic.
Rawlings assured
President Akufo-Addo’s explanations were enough to calm Former President and NDC founder, John Rawlings.
In a tweet, Mr Rawligns said his primary concern with the deal were the initial reports that the US was going to establish a military base as a new addition to the longstanding agreements.
Mr Rawlings had earlier cautioned against the agreement saying Ghanaians were not ready to live with foreign troops.
Other protests to continue
The group calling itself the Ghana First Patriotic Front, which led the first major demonstration against the deal last week, has said it will go back to the streets in two weeks time to protest the government’s posture.
The convener for the Ghana First Patriotic Front, Edem Agbana in an interview with Citi News, said members of the group are lacing their boots for another large demonstration.
“We are resuming our regional demonstration in Tamale in two weeks time. Next week we have a public forum. We will continue to let Ghanaians understand the agreement and how dangerous it is to the interest of Ghana. We will continue with the demonstration; we will continue with the mass mobilizations and mass actions against it.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa & Latif Mahama/citinewsroom.com/Ghana