He said the conditions in the agreement are not adequate for a military base and urged Ghanaians to be calm.
Pulse reported on a memo sighted by various media houses on an agreement by cabinet to allow the US to establish a military base in the country.
The report says the agreement, expected to be tabled before Parliament sometime this week, grants the US Military unfettered access to “a host of Ghanaian facilities and wide-ranging tax exemptions.”
But, the Minister of Defence has said the reports are not true and the memo is just an agreement between Ghana and the US for a joint military partnership.
The Defence Minister said Ghana and the USA have been involved in joint exercises over the years and what they seek to do now, including the use of two buildings in the Kotoka International Airport area, is no different.
“This agreement is not the first time” and that similar ones were agreed between the countries in 1997 and 2007. And it is going to Parliament because any foreign agreement must go to Parliament, besides requests for tax waivers can only be granted by Parliament."
“I have no authority to grant tax waivers,” he said, explaining that the partnership is strategic as it seeks to strengthen Ghanaian forces and defences particularly in this era of terrorism and terror attacks.