A ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says President Akufo-Addo is caught in a dilemma as far as the GITMO 2 case is concerned.
He claims Nana Addo is torn between ‘fulfilling his campaign promise of returning the two’ detainees, maintaining the relationship between Ghana and the United States of America (USA) and at the same time follow the Supreme Court ruling.
“President Akufo-Addo’s government finds itself between the rock and the hard place. During the campaign, they made an issue of this matter (Gitmo 2) and promised Ghanaians to return the two; it is surprising that almost six months in office nothing was heard until this Supreme Court decision and so I do not know if their campaign position has changed because we saw no action of returning them. They could have returned the two the first day they were sworn in if they really wanted to keep their promise . . . we need to be conscious of our relationship with the United States of America. You don’t want to annoy such super power and you also want to make sure you do not attract any negative attention . . . so my advice now is put the politics aside and think cautiously and strategically in the national interest," he indicated.
Mr Ablakwa who is also the Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency was speaking to a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday asking government to send the agreement that brought the two ex-detainees from Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) to Parliament for ratification.
In an interview with Citi Eyewitness news, Thursday, the MP further stated: “we welcome the decision of the Apex court . . . moving forward; we need to be cautious on how we navigate. The NPP made this an issue and promised to return Gitmo 2 when given the nod. If they come to parliament it will be at variant with their campaign promise of returning them."
He again added that: “at this point we want to be more nationalistic and we want to say that let us proceed cautiously. We want to make sure that at the end of the day we guarantee the security of the state; not attracting any negative attention that will cause terrorist to make us a target. That must be all of us our collective objective at this point. Then we must also be concerned about our relationship with the United States of America. We also must walk the narrow path to ensure that we do not slight the Supreme Court. It’s a very delicate path that the new government has to thread; at this point it is important to respect the decision of the court.”
If you may recall, in January 2016, the two detainees: Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, who had been in detention in the USA for 14 years, after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda were brought into the country by the Mahama administration.
This act was met with massive public uproar, sparking unending and heated debate in the country, with many describing it as a threat to national security.
Subsequently, Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, sued the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, together with the Minister of Interior, accusing then-President John Mahama of illegally bringing in the two former Gitmo detainees, without recourse to the laws of the land.
The plaintiffs were seeking among other reliefs, a “declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President of the Republic of Ghana acted unconstitutionally by agreeing to the transfer of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby.”
According to Peace FM's Agya Kwabena, who was in court Thursday, 22nd June, 2017, the Supreme Court presided over by newly sworn in Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, declared that it is unconstitutional for the two ex-detainees to be allowed into the country without Parliament's prior approval.
The court also directed that the issue of the two ex-detainees' admittance into Ghana, be brought before Parliament within the next three (3) months.
<<Print>>