12:27:00 AM
The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus in Parliament has queried the reason for which Foreign Affairs Minister Hanna Tetteh would be made to brief the House in a closed door sitting rather than a public hearing on Friday.
They contended that the issue is of public interest.
Addressing a press conference at the Parliament House in Accra, the Minority said there are “many more questions than answers” on the ex-detainee issue , and the “President and his Foreign Minister must come clean on this and tell Ghanaians the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
Two Yemenis – Mahmoud Omar Bin Atef and Khalid al-Dhuby – linked to al-Qaeda, and detained
for more than a decade without charges, were transferred to Ghana in December last year, with permission to stay for two years subject to security clearances.
Mr Isaac Osei, Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs recalled that Hanna Tetteh had given a clear indication that the discussions on this Guantanamo had been ongoing throughout 2015.
“On the Ghana side the lead actor was President John Mahama and the supporting cast included Foreign Minister Hannah Tetteh and Ambassador to the United States, Lt General Joseph Henry Smith,” Mr Osei said.
Mr Osei accused President Mahama and Foreign Affairs Minister Tetteh of deciding to bring into the country on the blind side of the citizenry, the two Guantanamo Bay detainees as well as some Syrian and Rwandan refugees.
“The whole process was shrouded in secrecy, which in a democracy is unacceptable except where Ghana’s national interest would be jeopardised by a more transparent and open process,” the Minority said.
The Minority accused President John Mahama of breaching the constitution by allowing the two detainees to be transferred to Ghana.
“It is the people of Ghana, who have elected President Mahama to exercise the powers of the people on their behalf and in their best interest. When power is exercised capriciously without due process, it is a usurpation of the people’s right. Our president is willing to bend over backwards to violate the immigration laws of Ghana by receiving these detainees. Ladies and Gentlemen, I bet to say that a President should not indulge in constitutional lawlessness,” Mr Isaac Osei said.
The Minority lawmakers threatened to initiate an impeachment process against President Mahama over the transfer of the two ex-detainees from Guantanamo bay to Ghana.
Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, spokesperson for the aggrieved minority MPs, said Ghanaians must know whether their security has not been bargained off.
“If it is legitimate agreement, you would not ratify an agreement in secrecy. That agreement should be in the public domain so that everybody will understand that we have not bargained off our security.”
Source: GNA
They contended that the issue is of public interest.
Addressing a press conference at the Parliament House in Accra, the Minority said there are “many more questions than answers” on the ex-detainee issue , and the “President and his Foreign Minister must come clean on this and tell Ghanaians the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
Two Yemenis – Mahmoud Omar Bin Atef and Khalid al-Dhuby – linked to al-Qaeda, and detained for more than a decade without charges, were transferred to Ghana in December last year, with permission to stay for two years subject to security clearances.
Mr Isaac Osei, Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs recalled that Hanna Tetteh had given a clear indication that the discussions on this Guantanamo had been ongoing throughout 2015.
“On the Ghana side the lead actor was President John Mahama and the supporting cast included Foreign Minister Hannah Tetteh and Ambassador to the United States, Lt General Joseph Henry Smith,” Mr Osei said.
Mr Osei accused President Mahama and Foreign Affairs Minister Tetteh of deciding to bring into the country on the blind side of the citizenry, the two Guantanamo Bay detainees as well as some Syrian and Rwandan refugees.
“The whole process was shrouded in secrecy, which in a democracy is unacceptable except where Ghana’s national interest would be jeopardised by a more transparent and open process,” the Minority said.
The Minority accused President John Mahama of breaching the constitution by allowing the two detainees to be transferred to Ghana.
“It is the people of Ghana, who have elected President Mahama to exercise the powers of the people on their behalf and in their best interest. When power is exercised capriciously without due process, it is a usurpation of the people’s right. Our president is willing to bend over backwards to violate the immigration laws of Ghana by receiving these detainees. Ladies and Gentlemen, I bet to say that a President should not indulge in constitutional lawlessness,” Mr Isaac Osei said.
The Minority lawmakers threatened to initiate an impeachment process against President Mahama over the transfer of the two ex-detainees from Guantanamo bay to Ghana.
Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, spokesperson for the aggrieved minority MPs, said Ghanaians must know whether their security has not been bargained off.
“If it is legitimate agreement, you would not ratify an agreement in secrecy. That agreement should be in the public domain so that everybody will understand that we have not bargained off our security.”
Source: GNA
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