Akufo-Addo angry; slams 'naysayers' for their 'hypocrisy'

President Akufo-Addo has expressed his outrage at the defamatory comments from his political opponents who claim his government has sold Ghana’s sovereignty to the United States of America.

“I will never be the President that will compromise or sell the sovereignty of our country. I respect deeply the memory of the great patriots whose sacrifice and toil brought about our independence and freedom. I have stood with you, the Ghanaian people, all my adult life, fighting for our individual and collective rights,” he said during a live telecast on TV, Thursday.

This is the President’s first commentary on the controversial military agreement between Ghana and the United States.

The Ghana-US defence cooperation agreement gives American soldiers unimpeded access to certain key installations and in return, the West African country will earn $20 million by way of training of its soldiers and equipment.

The Minority in Parliament continuously questioned the President’s silence on the deal which was passed by a one-sided parliament; the majority, after a cabinet endorsement.

In an open letter to the President, minority spokesperson on foreign affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa described the president’s silence on the issue as “cold and unusual”.

Opening up to Ghanaians during the live telecast, President Akufo-Addo said “everything I have done, since assuming the great honour and privilege of serving you as President of the Republic, demonstrates that I remain focused on building a self-reliant, free, prosperous Ghana, which will be able to make her own unique contribution to the growth and development of Africa and the world.”

According to him, "it is difficult to understand that such people, knowing what they do know, would set about so blatantly to confuse people, and go as far as calling for the overthrow of our democracy? A democracy that has become the beacon of good governance in Africa? A democracy that has survived for a quarter of a century and encompassed even the most irresponsible episodes of ill governance, in a state of unity and stability? A democracy that has provided the framework for systematic developments in our social and economic welfare, and assured us of the longest, uninterrupted period of stable constitutional governance in our history?

Surely, this is the kind of cynical manipulation by reckless self-seekers, which, in the fullness of time, the people of Ghana will acknowledge and condemn. And I am sure that as the facts become clear and widely available, and as the people come to terms with the evidence, they will reject the falsehood and deliberate attempts to destabilize our peaceful country. Truth is sacrosanct.



So let me state with the clearest affirmation that Ghana has not offered a military base, and will not offer a military base to the United States of America. Indeed, the United States of America has not made any request for such consideration and, consistent with our established foreign policy, we will not consider any such request. However, in consideration of the realities of our circumstances and the challenges to peace in our region in our time, we have deemed it prudent to continue the Co-operation Agreement with the United States of America. It is our firm belief that the Agreement will help enhance our defence capability, and offer an important layer of support in our common effort to protect the peace in our region"

He has therefore urged Ghanaians to “concentrate and spend our energies on working together to achieve that goal of a happy and prosperous Ghana, and reject the hypocrisy of the naysayers who led our country into bankruptcy and the worse economic record of modern Ghanaian history. Let us rise above them, and build the Ghana of our destiny, the land of freedom, justice, progress and prosperity...”