2015, 2018 defence deals different – Tetteh

Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Hanna Tetteh, has said the military agreement Ghana has entered with the United States of America is not the same as the one she signed on behalf of the country in 2015.

According to her, if the government claims the two agreement are the same, then those agreements must be put before parliament to enable the lawmakers and the general public to be the judge.

Her comments follow remarks by Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul that the Akufo-Addo government should be applauded by Ghanaians for not hiding the security deal between Ghana and the government of the United States of America contrary to what the Mahama administration did in the 2015 agreement.

The Bimbilla lawmaker told journalists in Accra on Wednesday, 21 March that unlike the 1998 and 2015 agreements that were hidden by the previous governments, including the one signed by Ms Tetteh, the Akufo-Addo government has elected to be transparent with Ghanaians as far as the updated security deal is concerned.

In Mr Nitiwul’s view, there are virtually no differences between the two previous agreements and the current one, and, so, wondered why the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its Minority Caucus are accusing the current government of selling off Ghana’s sovereignty for $20million when it was the Mahama administration that signed one of the precedent agreements, which, according to him, have merely been upgraded.

He said all the things the NDC and the Minority are shouting about are already in the two previous agreements which were secretly signed by the previous governments.

“Two years ago, Hanna Tetteh sold us, not us. In 1998, they sold us,” Mr Nitiwul said.

But Ms Tetteh, reacting to this development, told ClassFMonline.com on Friday, 23 March that: “If, indeed, the 2015 agreement was the basis for negotiating this new agreement that parliament considered today, then it should be circulated among members of parliament so that they can understand how it formed the basis of the current agreement presented for ratification.

“The reality is that this new agreement is a different one and it is not an extension of the 2015 agreement.”