Ghana Faces U.S. Sanctions

As Parliament readies itself for business after re-opening on Tuesday, one of the major issues that may likely generate hot debate touches on the sovereignty of the country. The Heritage newspaper says it has information that the government will try to get the House to ratify a Bilateral Non-Surrender Agreement (BNSA) that Ghana is said to have signed with the United States.

Under the BNSA, friendly nations’ of the US are by the terms of the agreement not required to surrender to International Criminal Court (ICC) any US national or Military/government employee (past or present including contractors and non-nationals) who commit any of the four crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC.

The four crimes include: crime of genocide, crime against humanity, war crimes and crime of aggression.

The Heritage newspaper in its August 6-12 edition published that the US has given Ghana up to November 1, to ratify the BNSA that the Kufuor administration nicodemously signed with the US in May this year, or risk being cut off the US military assistance.

The Leader of the Minority caucus in Parliament, Alban Bagbin, intends to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs an urgent question on the matter and that will touch off the expected debate.

Speaking in an interview with the Heritage, Mr Bagbin said the aim of his proposed urgent question is to afford the Kufuor administration the opportunity to clear the air as to whether it has actually signed such an agreement or not.

Mr Bagbin said since Ghana was among the first countries to sign and ratify the Rome Statue that established the International Criminal Court and also has her son Kofi Annan (UN Secretary General) not supportive of the BNSA which the US is “imposing on spineless countries”, it would be out of place for Ghana to sign such an agreement.

“It will be totally against the principles of international justice, international humanitarian law and a stab in the back of the worldwide evolving democracy”, the Minority Leader added.