Fate of Gitmo 2 will be decided by Parliament – Nana Addo

pulse-ghana admin

January 18, 2018 12:57 AM

The President says the fate of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana will be decided soon.

President Akufo-Addo has revealed that the fate of the two Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana will soon be decided when Parliament returns from recess.

According to him, the decision to either end or extend the stay of the two ex-detainees is still under examination and Parliament will deliver its verdict when the House reconvenes.

Speaking at his second encounter with the media held at the Flagstaff House on Wednesday, January 17, 2018, President Akufo-Addo, said he is fully aware that the deal binding the stay of the two has ended and a decision should be expected soon.

“The GITMO detainees, the period is up, a decision has to be made and that decision is under active examination, we need to be able to say something to Parliament when it resumes.

“The period under which the agreement was made has come to an end, we have to decide whether or not we are going to grant them permission to stay, whether we are going to make arrangements for them to go somewhere else. Those things are being actively examined as we sit, but I am fully aware that a decision on them has to be made, and it cannot be made in six or five months it has to be made now,” he assured.

In 2016 Ghana accepted to host two Yemeni nationals who were ex-convicts of the US-operated Guantanamo Bay Prison.

The two, identified as Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, were transferred to Ghana for a two-year period following efforts to close down the Guantanamo Bay Prison.

However, the controversial agreement between Ghana and the USA that saw the nation accept to host two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees effectively came to an end on January 6, 2018.

Earlier in August 2017 the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley AyorkorBotchwey, indicated to Parliament that her outfit was working on an exit plan for the two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees.

According to her, there will be “no further obligation” to keep the two in Ghana when their stay expires on January 6, 2018, unless government renegotiates the agreement with the US.

It remains to be seen, though, whether the ruling NPP government will send the two ex-detainees away or renegotiate their stay in the country, having been critical of Ghana’s the hosting of the two ex-detainees whiles in opposition.

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