No US Base In Ghana - Defence Ministry

The Ministry of Defence has emphatically stated that there is no US military base in Ghana.

It said the assertion in a section of the media that there was a tunnel from the new US Embassy compound to the Kotoka International Airport was not true.

A statement issued by the ministry in Accra said there was no evidence that the US had established or intended to establish a military base in Ghana.

The statement, which was in response to publications by an Accra private newspaper and some radio stations to the effect that the US had established or planned to establish a military base in Ghana, said, “There is no official request or proposal to that effect.”

“As a responsible Ministry within the Ghanaian establishment, we do not have the basis to conclude and inform the Ghanaian public that the US is going to establish a US Military Base in Ghana,” the Defence Ministry said.

It explained that the Ghana Armed Forces collaborated with its US counterparts in joint training exercises which included the Ghana Navy and the Ghana Air Force.

It said the GAF had also had joint training exercises with troops from the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and other friendly countries with the aim of sharpening the skills of Ghanaian troops through the exchange of ideas and experiences.

The statement described as unfortunate the giving of a conspiratorial interpretation to such collaborative efforts between Ghana and friendly nations, particularly the US.

The ministry said collaborative military training programmes with friendly countries had become a standard pattern to keep the GAF in shape at all times in order to fulfil their constitutional and statutory mandates.

The statement urged the media and the public to appreciate the level of responsibility required of the Ghana army and accept the world's expression of confidence in them.