EU Ambassador prevented from speaking at EPA discussion
The head of the European Union delegation in Ghana, Mr Claude Maerten, was prevented by the loud protests from interest groups from making a presentation on an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) discussion at the Accra International Conference Centre last Thursday .
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The discussion had been called at the instance of the Ministry of Trade and Industry to engage with stakeholders to gather their views on the finalisation of the EPA dubbed, “National Stakeholders Forum on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)”.
Speakers at the forum had painted a gloomy picture of the agreement and recommended that some aspects of the agreement be changed before it was signed as they considered it detrimental to the Ghanaian interest.
They had also accused the ministry of failing to make documents on the agreement available to aid in for the discussions.
Then, when the discourse was heating up, Mr Maerten got up and started walking towards the podium, ostensibly to react to some of the concerns raised by the previous speakers.
Immediately he got up, angry shouts started coming from some of the people gathered who found it out of place that a national forum for Ghanaians would involve someone who was related to the subject matter of the forum and, for that matter, be given the chance to intervene.
Despite attempts by the moderator of the programme, Mr Sidney Casely-Hayford, to impress upon the gathering to allow Mr Maerten to make his case, the shouts grew louder and louder until Mr Maerten descended from the stage and was escorted from the conference room by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Not long after, the meeting took a break after which small groups of people gathered to discuss the appropriateness of inviting Mr Maerten to the forum and giving him a platform to speak.
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While others felt it was out of place, some were of the view that he would have allayed the fear that the groups entertained, had he been allowed to intervene.
There were also talks of the choice of Mr Casely-Hayford as moderator, since he is known to have a preference for the EPA and was considered biased in his moderation.
Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh