Akufo Addo Must Come Out Clear On USAfricom

I was having a little
conversationwith
Mr. Justice Sarpong of Texas on the arrest of Nana Darkwa on Ghanaweb
the night of the 15th Delegates Conference of the New Patriotic Party at
Kumasi on Satuarday, 27th February, 2010. As I had not heard the news about
the results of the vote, I asked him if he could confirm my suspicions:

"Do you know the results of the vote? I suspect Jake won but just like Nana
Darkwa, I have no proof! Hahahaha!"

Sarpong was kind enough to confirm as follows:

"YES, JAKE WON AND YOUR PART-TIME PARTY NDC WOULD BE VOTED OUT IN 2012. HAVE
A GOOD WEEK END."

Even though the style of this article is a reply to Justice Sarpong in order
to stimulate a debate on this very important issue directly on the Ghanaweb
forum, the contents are a matter of urgent concern for all Ghanaians,
Africans and all the peoples of the world who support peace and justice on
our one and only planet.

My response to Sarpong at the news of the election of Mr. Jake Obetsebi
Lamptey as the Chairman of the NPP was thus:

"Thanks Mr. Sarpong!

I am going to write an article immediately! Can you guess what it is going
to be about?

Guess Number One:
It is about his acquisition of state property as personal property being the
central tenet of his personal contribution to the property owning democracy
of the NPP!
Answer: WRONG!

Guess Number Two:
I suppose he is going to drive and have a peep at the coveted house to see
if it may require some maintenance services, and how much the renovations
would cost, etc., etc., ...
Answer: WRONG!

Guess Number Three:
There is no doubt he would be hinting his contractor to get ready for the
works....
Answer: WRONG!

Guess Number Four:
It is about the Ga lands, and how Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is going to hide
behind the Bible to dupe his own people, "It is written in the Bible", I can
almost hear him say: "that, 'Even the little that you have shall be taken
away from you!'"..... Hahaha hahahaha! This is also wrong!

I am going to do none of those! I am sure to hell people are going to write
better on these subjects than I possibly can! One issue which is of extreme
national importance, which the Akufo Addo team must be forced to come out
clean with Ghanaians is their position on US Africa Command. For reasons of
national security, it is not important whether the US states they want to
establish bases in Ghana or not. If they have reasons not to let us know,
they will not let us know. What is important is what our own elected
leaders' position on the matter. This is an area where some of us want to
see more transparency from the NPP, rather than the opaque manner
ex-President Kufour was dealing in. There shall be no escape, as we are
going to insist upon it until we get the answers. If he fails to respond, we
shall accompany him with the issue right up to December 2012. It is
therefore in the interest of Nana Akufo Addo must come out very clearly on
this, in order not to look funny.

With the election of Jake Obetsebi Lamptey as the Chairman the issue even
becomes more than urgent. I met Kwesi Pratt, Jnr. in London during the last
Presidential campaigns. As usual, we were very worried about the way
President Bush was able to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians with his
Baloney!" speech, and how all of a sudden, the talk of Africom became what
Asare-Ochere Darko of the Danquah Institute calls "high-powered secret
meetings with the President, Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence
Staff" with the Ghanaian public completely left in the dark!

I asked Kwesi if he had managed to ask Akufo Addo to commit himself, and he
told me he had been looking for the opportunity but he had not yet
succeeded. The he recounted to me when he had the chance he asked Jake
Obetsebi Lamptey. And his response was something to this effect: "Well, you
know, America is a very big and powerful country, so if they want to
establish a base here we can do virtually nothing about it!"

I have been trying to get the Akufo Addo team to respond to these alarming
declarations by one of his closest of allies and propagandist-in-chief,
Asare Ochere Darko. He has kept an extraordinary silence on the matter. Mr.
Gabby Asare Ochere-Darko tells us: 'in August 2007 Major-General Ward, who
was later confirmed as AFRICOM’s first commander, visited Accra. He held
discussions with President Kufuor on “ways of strengthening military
cooperation.” His high-powered secret meetings with the President, Minister
of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff triggered huge speculation. Much
was made of Maj Gen J B Danquah’s public statement about the visit when he
said Maj Gen Ward had ‘done enough to resolve’ Ghana’s concerns about
AFRICOM, adding, “I have had the chance to hear [Ward] explain what is the
reasoning behind the command, and it’s all about partnership.”'

What was after former US President George W. Bush had declared publicly in
Accra on the 20th of February 2007, that "Some people say I am here to kind
of looking for bases. That is baloney!" President Kufour was happy that the
declaration by the visiting US President "would pay put to the speculation,
and enable the US-Ghana relations to flourish." Upon second thoughts, I
suspect they did not find it a very brilliant idea to go into elections with
such a sell-out hanging on their necks. Thus they cleverly made public
pronouncements to fool the population whilst they clandestinely continued
what Maj Gen J B Danquah vaguely tells us: "it’s all about partnership.”

Ochere Darko explains the nature of the "partnership". He says exactly the
same thing we hear from the US Africa Command:

"At the moment the Americans say they are happy to keep the U.S. Africa
Command headquarters in Germany, to coordinate all U.S. military and
security interests throughout the African continent. But any reasonable
assessment must conclude that this can be nothing but a temporary address
and arrangement."

What I find even more alarming is this attempt by the Akufo Addo chief
propagandist to sell the idea of Africom to Ghanaians:

"Ghana is now the subject of strategic U.S. energy and military interests
which, as far as the Obama administration is concerned, has raised the
stakes considerably in Ghana–United States relations. As the potential gem
in the crown of what Washington terms Africa's ‘New Gulf’, the article
highlights how Ghana’s pending oil-rich status will shift the terms of
negotiation during the trip. Furthermore, America’s preference for Ghana as
the physical location for the U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) headquarters,
and its concern not to cede strategic ground to China in this region, mean
that in 2009 Ghana has an unprecedented hand of cards to play in this game
of international diplomacy. Our task as a nation – and the Government’s task
as our representatives - is to make the strategic decisions to ensure that
we aren’t simply the honoured recipients of President Obama’s first visit to
Africa, but that we come away with more concrete deliverables to help us
meet our own strategic goals."

Ochere Darko, the Executive Director of the Akyem Mafia neocolonialist
think-tank known as the Danquah Institute now shows us how they hope to move
Ghana forward:

"The way forward is a pro-active policy to build a new Gulf of energy
security and prosperity in a part of the world that is relatively receptive
to American presence. With significant discoveries being made in the Gulf of
Guinea oil basin, off the coast of Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Cote
d’Ivoire, according to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S.
Department of Energy, the United States will be importing in the year 2020
over 770 million barrels of African oil a year. And Ghana with its
stability, notable responsiveness to America, deepening multiparty democracy
and promising investment climate is seen as the perfect epicentre for the
growth and fulfilment of this interest. In the eyes of America, geography,
geology and ideology all favour Ghana as the gem in the crown of this new
policy."

I am sure it shall not harm our democratic process if Nana Akufo Addo would
come out clearly to distance himself with the position of his right hand man
or be honest enough to tell us BEFORE he is elected, whether or not he
endorses the "brilliant ideas" of the Danquah Institute neocolonialist
think-tank.

They seem to know more than the average Ghanaian concerning the goings-on:

"Furthermore, the U.S. is, understandably, bent on establishing a regional
command for Africa, similar to U.S. Forces Korea, with a homeport situated
on the African continent to protect their interests. West Africa is its
natural home, given the need to protect energy interests in the Gulf of
Guinea. Liberia has offered but simply cannot match the kind of convenience
available in Ghana. It can be a win-win situation."

Is Nana Akufo Addo saying that his boys know more than he does? Is he
cleverly keeping that up his sleeves only to spring the surprise once
elected into office? I think that it is about time that he came out clean
and state his policy on Ghana as the headquarters of the US Africa Command
NOW! I know not what course my countrymen and women may take, but as for me,
I want to hear a clear "NO TO AFRICOM" from him! If he intends to go ahead
with the Kufour-Bush plans, he has to make it clear before the elections,
for Ghanaians to decide whether or not such a human being is fit to be a
president. I have every reason not to trust him one bit!


PLEASE READ ASARE OCHERE-DARKO'S ARTICLE HERE:

Source: See Ghanaweb Archives, Feature Article of Monday, 25 May 2009
"Obama’s Visit – What’s In It For Us And U.S.?" Columnist: Otchere-Darko,
Asara
Posted by Nana Akyea Mensah at 8:01
PM



--
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.


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