Akufo Addo Must Come Out Clear On USAfricom NOW!

I was having a little conversation with 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

This article has just nee published on www.modernghana.com/

Comment repeated under: General News of Sunday, 28 February 2010, Source: GNA
Northern Region marks Veterans Day here Comment: Akufo Addo Must Come Out On USAfriCom