|
US troops 'not welcome' in Ghana
20/02/2008 08:04 - (SA)
Accra - Ghana welcomed United States President George W Bush as a friend on Tuesday but said it would not host any increased US military presence on the African continent.
Bush, touring Africa in the final year of his presidency, had been supporting efforts to solve crises in Kenya and Darfur. But his trip sought mainly to highlight success stories on a continent often portrayed as a morass of conflict, coups, corruption and famine.
He arrived in Ghana on Tuesday on the fourth leg of a five-nation tour after visiting Benin, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Despite some bloody army takeovers since independence from Britain in 1957, Ghana was seen by Washington as a model of stable, democratic rule and was receiving millions of dollars of US aid for health, education and poverty reduction.
Bush 'leaves remarkable legacy'
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Akwasi Osei-Adjei said: "Under President Bush, Africa has got more from US foreign policy than any previous American presidency."
He said Bush was leaving a "remarkable legacy" for Ghana.
Under a 2006 deal, Ghana was receiving $547m in US assistance - one of the biggest sums given to an African state - under a five-year anti-poverty programme managed by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Bush's support for multi-billion-dollar anti-malaria and anti-Aids projects in Africa had earned him an unusually warm reception there despite widespread condemnation of his foreign policy toward Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.
Despite the mutual back-slapping, there were limits to Ghana's willingness to cooperate.
Ghana's armed forces - respected contributors to international peacekeeping missions - benefit from US military training.
'We cherish our sovereignty'
But President John Kufuor's government, like many others in Africa, was unwilling to host any US military facility or base.
"Our sovereignty is something we cherish," Osei-Adjei said, adding that Ghana did not intend to accept any part of the newly created US military command for Africa (Africom).
The Bush administration created Africom last year with a view to strengthening the US presence in Africa, a major supplier of crude oil to the American market.
US officials talked initially of plans to move the Africom headquarters to Africa, but African opposition led Washington to change course and said that Africom would not bring any more US troops or bases to the continent. A base for 1 800 US troops already existed in Djibouti.
Africom commanders had instead suggested a loose structure of Africom liaison staff across Africa, helping to coordinate projects from counter-terrorism and military training to aid.
"Africom is a much more comprehensive concept, so it's taking a little while to get it under way," White House spokesperson Dana Perino said.
|
News
