News:
March 26, 2018
The Majority side of the House ratified the controversial Ghana-US Military Cooperation agreement on Friday 23rd March 2018, in the wake of drama and chaos.
Ahead of the ratification, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Minority members walked out at different stages of the sitting after heated exchanges for and against an agreement that will give US military unfettered access to some facilities in Ghana.
The Minority did not hide their objection to the agreement and did not fail to express same during proceedings in the House, by putting on red bands and shouting, banging the tables indicating their objections to things they objected to.
In their numbers, they washed their hands off the Ghana-US Military Cooperation agreement by staging a walkout in Parliament shortly after the report of the committee on Defence was presented on the floor.
The opposition legislators did not want to have anything to do with a military agreement they say will mortgage the country’s sovereignty to a superpower.
After several minutes of chaos, the Speaker returned to restore order and to continue the proceedings.
The Minority demanded amendments to be made to the report of the committee that had been brought to the floor for a debate.
Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu led his side of the House to stage a walkout from the chamber after arguing his case out and noted that, “we do not want to be part of this agreement”.
The Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu and the Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul had their say and later their way as the house adopted the committee report and ratified the agreement.
By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com