Ghana-EU Defence Agreement: Can sovereignty be preserved upon ratification?

Debate continues in Ghana over the proposed Security and Defence Partnership Agreement with the European Union. The document, which would make Ghana the first African country to sign such an agreement with the EU, is expected to be presented to Parliament soon. The process has reignited discussion on how to balance strengthening national security with preserving sovereignty.

One of the voices in this debate is Collins Adamako-Mensah, a Member of Parliament and a member of the Energy Committee. In his view, experiences from other regions, particularly the Gulf, warrant close attention when assessing such military arrangements.

“But as I said, the experiences we are seeing and witnessing now in the Gulf should send a very strong signal to Ghana, a country like myself, that there are dangers associated with associating yourself with a group of people on military terms”,Mensah noted.

The lawmaker also emphasized how carefully the terms of the agreement must be drafted, as they will determine the extent to which the state retains control.

“But if you sign an agreement that allows other parties to have access to your assets without necessarily going through a certain process, let's say you have an agreement that says that they can use your airports, they have access to the VIP lounges, they don't go through the normal screening that any ordinary person goes through at the airport and all that, that reduces the power of the state. And so my point is that yes, the only way it can affect our sovereignty is how we couch the terms of the agreement”, Mensah said.

He stressed that a document of such importance should not pass through formal approval without thorough scrutiny, calling for meaningful public and parliamentary debate: “And that is why I think a proper scrutiny and an open discussion about the terms of the agreement is quite important”.

At the same time, Adomako-Mensah expressed skepticism about the prospects for substantive debate in Parliament, pointing to the entrenched practice of party discipline.

“But eventually, the records we have in Ghana's parliament is that you realise that government members tend to tilt towards the government's position. And so my guess is that if government is to bring this to the House, having already agreed the terms with the EU, I can tell you that it's going to be possible that it's going to be settled through”, - he added.

Overall, Collins Adamako-Mensah calls for a careful assessment of all implications of the agreement to ensure that military cooperation strengthens Ghana’s security without creating hidden forms of dependency.