US Ambassador Supports Passage Of Military Agreement

The US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson has added his voice to calls on Parliament to pass the Right to Information Bill into law.  

In an interview with Radio Ghana, Mr. Jackson said the RTI Bill is very necessary for promoting democracy in Ghana.

He said it is important that the bill is passed sooner than later to give meaning to Ghana quest to remain a beacon of democracy on the continent.

US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson says he is disappointed that Ghana-US relations on security collaboration has been miss-construed.  

He described the recent debate on the agreement as a misunderstanding  of the issues. 

Clarifying America's position on the bilateral security exercises, Mr. Jackson said Ghana and the US must see themselves as partners, besides, the US is investing more than 20 million dollars to support Ghana's Armed Forces among other assistance.  

GBC's Rebecca Ekpe reports that Ghana and the US relations, especially in the area of security exercises are not new. 

What has generated the recent controversy is an agreement between the government of Ghana and the United States on defense-cooperation regarding access to the use of agreed facilities and areas in Ghana. 

Ambassador Jackson explained that the US has no intention of establishing a permanent base in Ghana. 

He said the security agreement is one that was signed with President Rawlings in the 90's and need to be updated following the change in trend currently. 

Counter terrorism analysts like Emmanuel Kotin are advocating a review of the Ghana-US defense cooperation. 

Also, David Agbee of the Ghana Institute of Governance and Security wants Parliament to reject the security agreement. 

Ambassador Jackson clarified that the US has no intention of a permanent presence in Ghana, because it is militarily stationed in other countries.


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