Enoch Darfah Frimpong
The founder and leader of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga, has questioned the authority of Cabinet to determine Ghana’s proposed participation in BRICS without broader parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.
Brazil, Russia, India, and China orginally formed BRIC as an intergovernmental organisation of major emerging economies and developing countries designed to increase global influence and counter Western-dominated institutions.
South Africa joined in 2010, changing the acronym to BRICS.
It has recently been expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which joined in 2024, followed by Indonesia.
Ten additional partner nations are Belarus, Cuba, Malaysia, and Vietnam, which joined as partner countries in 2025.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa last week announced Ghana’s cabinet approval to join BRICS.
President John Dramani Mahama on his part on Thursday said Ghana’s application to join the BRICS bloc of countries is a deliberate strategy to broaden the country’s development partnerships and deepen South-South cooperation, President John Dramani Mahama has said.
In a press statement issued in Accra on Saturday (October 17, 2026), Hassan Ayariga, the leader of the All People’s Congress, a political party with no seat in Parliament argued that any major international economic and diplomatic commitment with long-term implications for Ghana must be subjected to transparency, accountability and democratic debate.
He maintained that Ghana’s sovereignty rests with its citizens and cautioned against treating decisions of national importance as the exclusive preserve of the President and his Cabinet.
To him, Ghana’s democratic governance must reflect the interests and aspirations of the people.
A complete copy of the press release is included below.
Source: graphic.com