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North Tongu member of parliament Samuel Okoudzeto Ablakwa says Minority opposition to the Ghana-United States Penalty Agreement will not change, although the Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to set aside the agreement ratified by Parliament .
The Supreme Court in its decision on Tuesday described the lawsuit filed by NDC opposition regional youth organizer Ashanti, Brogya Genfi, as without merit.
The seven-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Kwesi Anin Yeboah indicated that the reason for the court’s decision will be available at a later date.
But Ablakwa and the Minority who described the deal as one that gives Ghana’s sovereignty to another country, threatening peace and stability, say the ruling does not change their point of view.
“The minority position remains the same that our government did not negotiate for the benefit of Ghana. Our government could have negotiated better, “he said on Joy FM’s Newsnite program.
Ablakwa wonders how an agreement that has resulted in the delivery of Terminal 1 of Kotoka International Airport to a private entity for its management is beneficial to Ghana.
According to him, the government has leased the terminal to the freight forwarding company, McDan, and even Parliament cannot access the site to assess what is happening there.
“Ghana does not have access to the terminal to determine what happens there or what does not. Terminal 1 has been leased to a private McDan company and then McDan deals with the US Army. USA
“So even our government doesn’t know what’s going on between McDan and the US Army. USA You do not know what is happening in Terminal 1 and you tell me that this is an agreement in the interest of Ghana. You think the Ghanaian military can go and do this in the United States of America, ”he asked.
Ablakwa, who is also a senior member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Minority’s opposition to the deal is not intended to jeopardize relations between Ghana and the United States, but rather to seek a win-win situation. mutual for both parties.
“We must never undermine our national sovereignty. President Trump speaks first of the United States, there may also be Ghana first. This is an agreement that very eminent Ghanaians, including Ghana’s oldest Foreign Minister, Dr. Obed Asamoah, publicly said was not in our national interest and was too one-sided.
“This is an agreement that respected professor Akilagpa Sawyer, former vice chancellor of the University of Ghana, analyzed and said that it was not negotiated well and that it was not in our best interest.”
He said a future NDC government will ask for the Agreement to be reconsidered because they are not in favor of the decision.
The Agreement will grant the United States Armed Forces unimpeded access to some key facilities following a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Ghana and the Government of the United States.
With the agreement ratified by Parliament, US troops will be exempt from, among other things, paying taxes on equipment brought to Ghana, as well as using Ghana’s radio spectrum for free.
