News:
February 19, 2016
Ghana had an ‘agreement’ with the United States to allow the former to accommodate two former detainees of the Guantanamo Bay Maximum Security establishment.
A member of Parliament who witnessed a session in Ghana’s Parliament Friday, which saw Foreign Affairs Minister Hanna Tetteh briefing the House on the matter, told Ghanamps.gov.gh.
Tetteh was on the floor of Parliament to brief Members in a closed door meeting over the circumstances that led to Ghana accepting the two ex detainees into its fold.
Her invitation to the August House was spurred by concerns from Members from both sides of the legislature over the Gitmo detainees’ acceptance into the country without their knowledge.
Snippets of information picked from the meeting indicates that Madam Tetteh was not prepared to open up.
Madam Tetteh came to the House with a prepared document and restricted herself to that the entire period.
Hannah Tetteh, has admitted that there is an agreement between Ghana and the US Government over the ex GTMO detainees but declined to give details of the said agreement.
According to her, she was and is still not privy to the discussions that have gone on between President Mahama and the US Government.
She said the matter was even not discussed at the national security level and therefore information regarding the circumstances that led to the two ex GTMO detainees are scanty.
On Wednesday, January 6, 2016, the Foreign Affairs Minister announced that Ghana has accepted a plea from the International Criminal Tribunal to provide shelter for two cleared terrorist suspects of Yemeni origin who were detained in Guantanamo Bay prison by US authorities.
The two were Khalid Mohammed Salih al-Dhuby and Mahmmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef.
According to Madam Hannah Tetteh, the two Gitmo detainees were unable to “return to Yemen at the moment and we have indicated our readiness to accept them for a period of two years after which they may leave the country”.
That aside, the Ministry said it had also agreed to provide humanitarian assistance and refuge to some persons from Rwanda, Yemen and Syria.
Ever since the announcement, a cross section of the Ghanaian public has criticized the government for putting the country’s security at risk.
Concerns have also been raised as to the actual number of detainees the country has admitted into its fold.
“I have received a paper indicating that fifteen (15) more of the detainees will be following. That means Ghana is going to host 17 of these detainees. So, it is important that we get to know whether their arrival will benefit Ghana. In the context of good governance, information is very vital. We call it answerability – people need to be accountable”, argued Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo.