The agreement between Ghana and the United States on the resettlement of the two former Gitmo detainees in Ghana has been laid before Parliament.
The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, subsequently referred the agreement to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs committee for consideration.
The two detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, who were in detention for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda, were brought to Ghana in 2016, for a period, after which they were expected to be reintegrated in their home countries.
The move was however condemned by many including the now-governing New Patriotic Party, who described them as a security threat.
The Supreme Court, in June, however, ordered that the agreement covering the resettlement be submitted to Parliament for ratification or otherwise, failing which the two ex-detainees would be repatriated.
Two Ghanaian citizens, 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 per interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President acted unconstitutionally by agreeing to the transfer of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby.
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By: Sixtus Dong Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana