{"id":412428,"date":"2018-03-24T07:11:31","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T07:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=412428"},"modified":"2018-03-25T11:36:37","modified_gmt":"2018-03-25T11:36:37","slug":"ayariga-offered-to-pay-20m-to-stop-us-military-base-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/ayariga-offered-to-pay-20m-to-stop-us-military-base-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayariga offered to pay $20m to stop US ‘military base’ deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
A former Presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Hassan Ayariga, says he offered to pay the $20 million being invested by the United State into the Ghana Armed Forces this year as part of an agreement\u00a0that will allow their troops to be stationed in Ghana.<\/p>\n
According to Mr. Ayariga, the\u00a0Memorandum of Understanding for defence cooperation, which was approved by Parliament<\/strong><\/span><\/a> on Friday, amounted to the sale of the country’s sovereignty.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”16IULckSmYs95qwW5Qzvcu7AmwNAl8BA”]Speaking to Accra-based Asempa FM, Mr Ayariga said he had written a cheque for $20 million dollars, which he had taken with him to Parliament yesterday in order to prevent the deal from being approved.<\/p>\n “I went there to give them the cheque if they are ready. They should take the $20 million they want and leave Ghana for us. We want to buy off our sovereignty and we think that if it is the money that the military wants to take, they should come for this, we’ll give it to them for free. After all, everybody is supposed to be a stakeholder and help build Ghana,” he said.<\/p>\n “Nkrumah bought the sovereignty\u00a0of Ghana with his life, others died to protect Ghana, military men went to war to get out freedom and a whole lot of people sacrificed their lives to make us have comfortable lives today. So we will not allow the Danquah-Busia tradition to sell our sovereignty\u00a0for a mere $20 million. We will not do that. If that is what their interests are, we will allow them to have the $20 million and leave us to live in peace.”<\/p>\n ‘Protests today, expect more Wednesday’<\/strong><\/p>\n On Friday a number of protesters who tried to gain access to Parliament to protest the anticipated approval of the deal were prevented<\/a><\/span><\/strong> from entering the House.<\/p>\n The main entrance of the House\u00a0was shut with strict access checks being conducted for members of the public and workers seeking to enter.<\/p>\n The protesters however chanted slogans and songs outside the House.<\/p>\n The leader of the protesters suspended CPP youth leader Ernesto Yeboah, who was dissatisfied with Parliament\u2019s decision, said they posed no threat to the security of the House.<\/p>\n \u201cAre we holding guns? So on what basis are we disallowed from entering Parliament to have a sight of the proceedings in Parliament? They have absolutely no basis to restrain us from entering to have a sight of the proceedings. We are going to enter, we are going to sit down, we are going to observe the rules of Parliament.<\/p>\n