The Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has said that the current government was not aware of the decision by the erstwhile NDC government to grant the two detainees refugee status.

There had been pressure on the current government to make a decision on whether to keep the two following the expiration of their deal but Minister stated that the government was almost helpless in this regard because of the refugee status.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ysr0usJc1ZTeQXNIzRW5k7f2g3BdTkqB”]The US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson had earlier publicly expressed surprise over Ghana’s deal with his country to grant the former Guantanamo detainees refugee status.

But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, the Bawku Central MP said government’s claims only show incompetence on the part of the Akufo-Addo government.

“If they were concerned about Guantanamo Bay and from their records they don’t have any particular information and they needed it, the former National Security director is still alive, they could have called him. The former Interior Minister is still alive they could have called him, the same for the former Immigration Service director. So this story about we were not briefed, we were not told rather shows incompetence. It does not show that the NDC outgoing government was hiding anything from you,” he said.

He argued that the three sector agencies namely; the Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry and National Security had supervisory role over the former detainees “so if you [government] want to have a full picture, you would have gone to these three agencies to find out, and if you didn’t find anything on record, you would have [also] invited those who were occupying these offices for more details.”

An earlier agreement suggested that the US government was to fend for the two detainees for two years in Ghana after which they become the responsibility of the Ghana government.

The former government agreed to this pact.

Ambassador Jackson had said the US government no longer has any responsibilities towards the former Guantanamo Bay detainees after January 6, 2018.

But Mahama Ayariga on the Citi Breakfast Show said there was nothing wrong with the agreement.

“I believe strongly that we did the right thing and this government is still doing the right thing. We may have issues with the negotiations with the US government that maybe we should have put some more burdens on them as a consequence of the violation of the rights of those people, but for us, what was paramount was the rights and the liberties of those individuals. If it becomes necessary for our country to open its doors to people in distress in another part of the world we will do it again,” he added.

Background

The move to host the two in the country was criticized by many observers including the then-in-opposition New Patriotic Party, who described the two as a security threat despite assurances to the contrary by the US.

Two citizens; Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, further sued the former Attorney General and the Minister of Interior contending that the two were being hosted illegally.

The two were justified by the Supreme Court, which declared as unconstitutional the agreement between the Mahama government and the United States.

The apex court ordered the government to send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the US.

According to the judgment, the government needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement, just as in the case of the two detainees.

When the matter came up for discussion in Parliament, the House was informed that the agreement was reached under a note verbale and Memorandum of Understanding.

A note verbale is a piece of diplomatic correspondence prepared in the third person and unsigned. Parliament subsequently ratified the agreement for the two for detainees to be in the country.

Return GITMO 2 now – Antwi Danso to gov’t

An International relations analyst, Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso, wants government to take immediate steps to return the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees to where ever they came from.

“They were given two years to stay in Ghana, and the two years have elapsed, what next. And for me they have to leave the country. They must be made to leave by the tenets of the agreement. And agreement tells how its termination can be. So I don’t see why this thing cannot be done, because if they are not made to leave, the security implications are dire,” he told Umaru Sanda on the

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Mahama Ayariga slams gov’t, defends Gitmo 2 refugee status appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, said Umar Bin Atef and Khalid Al-Dhuby, ceased to be the responsibilities of the US government effective January 6, 2018, when the original deal for their two-year stay ended.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wIS5BAobNUWXp7MEraoBtm5opkyDD5w6″]Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, last week announced that the two detainees were granted refugees status by the Mahama administration, a situation that makes it difficult for Ghana to send them away without their input.

Speaking to journalists in Tamale, Mr. Jackson said the decision by the previous Mahama administration to grant the two refugee status, came to him as a surprise.

“I did not know until this week that they have been granted refugee status. That came as a surprise to me as much as it came to all of you. However, that decision does give them certain rights, and if the government of Ghana wishes to relocate them to a third country and they need to discuss that, we have no role in that..It is between the government of Ghana and the two refugees,” the US Ambassador said.

“The agreement said Ghana would keep them for two years and integrate them during that time. It also said the United States will provide for their daily living expenses, so for two years we paid for their living expenses and gave them a stipend for food and other living expenses, toiletries etc,” he added.

Background

The move to host the two in the country was criticized by many observers including the then-in-opposition New Patriotic Party, who described the two as a security threat despite assurances to the contrary by the US.

Two citizens; Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, further sued the former Attorney General and the Minister of Interior contending that the two were being hosted illegally.

The two were justified by the Supreme Court, which declared as unconstitutional the agreement between the Mahama government and the United States.

The apex court ordered the government to send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the US.

According to the judgment, the government needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement, just as in the case of the two detainees.

When the matter came up for discussion in Parliament, the House was informed that the agreement was reached under a note verbale and Memorandum of Understanding.

A note verbale is a piece of diplomatic correspondence prepared in the third person and unsigned. Parliament subsequently ratified the agreement for the two for detainees to be in the country.

‘Gov’t could withdraw refugee status’

Although the Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey had recently stated that the refugee status conferred on the two will make their return difficult, a former Deputy Attorney General, Dominic Ayine, subsequently suggested that government could withdraw that status and return them if their stay is not in the interest of the country.

“Under our refugee law, as quoted by the Minority Leader, the refugee status can be withdrawn, so it is left with this government to take that step if they so think that the presence of the two persons on Ghanaian soil is inimical to the interest of the people of this country,” he said.

Click on audio to listen to the US Ambassador 

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post ‘We have nothing to do with Gitmo 2’ – US Ambassador appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

That being so, there is need for all aspects of the case to be considered in order to make its determination stand the test of time.

In the year 2016, Margaret Banful and Henry Nana Boakye hauled the erstwhile Attorney-General (A-G) and the Minister for Interior to the Supreme Court for the court to declare that the continued stay of Mahmud Umar Bin Atef and Muhammed Salih Al-Dhuby in Ghana is unlawful. They also sought an order from the court directing the Interior Minister to immediately return the two detainees to the US government.

The two applicants prayed the Supreme Court for “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, by agreeing to the transfer of Bin Atef and Al-Dhuby (both former detainees of the Guantanamo Bay) to the Republic of Ghana, required ratification by an Act of Parliament or a resolution of Parliament, supported by the votes of more than one-half of all members of Parliament.”

According to them, former President John Dramani Mahama acted unconstitutionally in his failure to obtain the requisite ratification by an Act of Parliament or a resolution of Parliament when he agreed with the government of the US to transfer the two former detainees to Ghana.

Per the directions given by the court, government must within the period of 6 month send the agreement to Parliament for ratification (expiring in 8 January 2018) or have the two detainees sent back to the US.

Presently, government is saying it is unable to immediately execute plans to repatriate the two Guantanamo Bay detainees who have been in Ghana the last two years because of their refugee status. According to official statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, she said that “they were issued a decision letter dated July 21, 2016, recognizing their status as refugees. The implication is that in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the status of Refugees of 1951 and the 1967 Protocol on the Status of Refugees as well as Provisions of the Refugees Laws, 1992, PNDC Law 305 (D) of Ghana, the two have attained the status of refugees in our country”

This statement flies in the face of evidence of the law governing refugee status. The Gitmo 2 are not refugees by any stretch of the word in any of the statutes. In reference to the United Nations Convention on the status of Refugees of 1951, it states under Article 1(2), titled “Definition of the term refugee”, as follows:

“A. For the purposes of the present Convention, the term “refugee” shall apply to any person who:
(2) As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to well- founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.

In the case of a person who has more than one nationality, the term “the country of his nationality” shall mean each of the countries of which he is a national, and a person shall not be deemed to be lacking the protection of the country of his nationality if, without any valid reason based on well-founded fear, he has not availed himself of the protection of one of the countries of which he is a national.”

The Gitmo 2 are residence in Ghana. The elements of their activities and circumstances under which they came here are clearly known. They do not fall within the scope of the above definition of a refugee. It goes on to say in section C under Article 1 that the convention shall cease to apply to any person falling under the terms of section A if:

1. He has voluntarily re-availed himself of the protection of the country of his nationality; or

2. Having lost his nationality, he has voluntarily re-acquired it; or

3. He has acquired a new nationality, and enjoys the protection of the country of his new nationality; or

4. He has voluntarily re-established himself in the country which he left or outside which he remained owing to fear of persecution; or

5. He can no longer, because the circumstances in connexion with which he has been recognized as a refugee have ceased to exist, continue to refuse to avail himself of the protection of the country of his nationality; Provided that this paragraph shall not apply to a refugee falling under section A(1) of this article who is able to invoke compelling reasons arising out of previous persecution for refusing to avail himself of the protection of the country of nationality;

6. Being a person who has no nationality he is, because of the circumstances in connexion with which he has been recognized as a refugee have ceased to exist, able to return to the country of his former habitual residence;

In regards to these provision, how did we coin the word “refugee” on people who have not lost their nationality? And given the situation where they are reported to have been married to Ghanaian women, they are by our law under Article 7 of the 1992 Constitution Ghanaian nationals; hence why do we call them refugees?

Furthermore, section E of Article 1 emphasizes that the convention shall not apply to a person who is recognized by the competent authorities of the country in which he has taken residence as having the rights and obligations which are attached to the possession of the nationality of that country.

Perhaps, it was a mistake on the part of governments in the statement of the Gitmo 2 refugee status. The facts are explicit and sacred. No amount of semantics can yark the fact that they are not refugees. So far none of these statutes including the Provisions of the Refugees Laws, 1992, PNDC Law 305 sets out the categorization of these two Yemenis as refugees in Ghana. Since there seem to be no facts of evidence alluding to their refugee status, we should insist that government holds the power for them to be given that.

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By: Michael Sumaila Nlasia (Research Fellow, Centre for Data Processing and Geo-Spatial Analysis)

Email: [email protected]  Phone: 0548455071

The post Our hands are not tied; GITMO 2 not refugees [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to her, the agreement signed between the government of Ghana and United States of America indicated that, while the US has no obligation to the detainees after the initial two-year agreement, Ghana has the responsibility to integrate the two into the Ghanaian society.

[contextly_sidebar id=”V3eH9wPruljTVeABWR6fcoq2mcQ8D10p”]The two detainees of Yemeni nationality, 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 January 2016, for a period of two years.

“The government at the time granted the two detainees refugee status. This followed a request by National Security to the then-Chairman of the Ghana Refugee Board. They were issued a decision letter dated 21st July 2016, recognizing their status as refugees,” Madam Ayorkor Botchway narrated to Parliament on Wednesday.

The Minster explained further that “the implication is that, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951, and the 1967 protocol on the Status of refugees as well as the provisions of the Refugee Law (1992) PNDC Law 305 (d) of Ghana, the two have attained the status of refugees in our country.”

She noted that the essential component of the refugee status in Ghana “is protection against return to a country where a person has reason to fear persecution.”

“Accordingly, government is constrained to explore any further options at this time, and will await an in-depth examination of the matter by the appropriate agencies,” Madam Ayorkor Botchway added.

Minority ready to cooperate

Meanwhile, the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, assured government the Minority will cooperate in finding a lasting resolution to the matter.

“I get the impression that the honourable Foreign Minister is asking for more time for the government to decide. We can assure them that we will be willing to work with them so that we can find a permanent solution to this matter. We will engage in politics that you can be assured its not opportunistic, and will be in the national interest as we find a permanent solution to this matter,” Mr. Ablakwa said.

Possible stay after expiry

Per the statement released at the time from the then-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hanna Tetteh, on January 6, 2015, the government did not explicitly state that the former detainees would necessarily have to leave the country after the agreement expired.

The statement said the two may leave the country after the two-year period, suggesting the decision was in their hands.

“At the request of the US Government, we have also agreed to accept two detainees of Yemeni origin who were detained in Guantanamo but who have been cleared of any involvement in any terrorist activities and are being released. They are 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,” the statement said.

Background

The move to host the two in the country was criticized by many observers including the then-in-opposition New Patriotic Party, who described the two as a security threat despite assurances to the contrary by the US.

Two citizens; Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, further sued the former Attorney General and the Minister of Interior contending that the two were being hosted illegally.

The two were justified by the Supreme Court, which declared as unconstitutional the agreement between the Mahama government and the United States.

The apex court ordered the government to send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the US.

According to the judgment, the government needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement, just as in the case of the two detainees.

When the matter came up for discussion in Parliament, the House was informed that the agreement was reached under a note verbale and Memorandum of Understanding.

A note verbale is a piece of diplomatic correspondence prepared in the third person and unsigned. Parliament subsequently ratified the agreement for the two for detainees to be in the country.

Return GITMO 2 now – Antwi Danso to gov’t

An International relations analyst, Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso, wants government to take immediate steps to return the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees  to where ever they came from.

“They were given two years to stay in Ghana, and the two years have elapsed, what next. And for me they have to leave the country. They must be made to leave by the tenets of the agreement. And agreement tells how its termination can be. So I don’t see why this thing cannot be done, because if they are not made to leave, the security implications are dire,” he told Umaru Sanda on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News on Tuesday.

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Gitmo 2 can’t go back; they’re refugees’ – Gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said he is fully aware that a decision has to be made on the fate of the two, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, who were brought to Ghana in 2016 for a period of two years.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PO0vSP97pPI7o97XuoWTG2Mn3WMeZePY”]“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,” he said

He noted that government will take that decision as early as possible on whether they will stay or arrangements made for them to leave the country.

“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 said.

Background

Ghana’s controversial agreement with the United States of America for the hosting of two former Guantanamo Bay detainees effectively ended on January 6, this year.

The two detainees who were in detention for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda, were brought to Ghana in 2016, for a period of two years.

The move to host the two in the country was criticized by many observers including the then-in-opposition New Patriotic Party, who described the two as a security threat despite assurances to the contrary by the US.

Two citizens; Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, further sued the former Attorney General and the Minister of Interior contending that the two were being hosted illegally.

The two were justified by the Supreme Court, which declared as unconstitutional the agreement between the Mahama government and the United States.

The apex court ordered the government to send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the US.

According to the judgment, the government needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement, just as in the case of the two detainees.

When the matter came up for discussion in Parliament, the House was informed that the agreement that was reached under a note verbale and Memorandum of Understanding.

A note verbale is a piece of diplomatic correspondence prepared in the third person and unsigned.

Parliament subsequently ratified the agreement for the two for detainees to be in the country.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GITMO 2 will know their fate when Parliament resumes – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“They were given two years to stay in Ghana, and the two years have elapsed, what next. And for me they have to leave the country. They must be made to leave by the tenets of the agreement. And agreement tells how its termination can be. So I don’t see why this thing cannot be done, because if they are not made to leave, the security implications are dire,” he told Umaru Sanda on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News on Tuesday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”RPEXrGcxVxlpZMOqrAa9C3WZ99CHcs9d”]Ghana’s controversial agreement with the United States of America for the two-year stay of the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, ended on January 6, 2018.

The government has said it is discussing the future of the two, who were in detention for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda.

Despite the concerns that met Ghana’s decision to host the two Yemeni men, their two-year stay passed without any incident.

But Dr. Danso insists that the two must leave the country because hosting them “has brought lot of insecurity to us already.”

“Remember when they were brought in, the Ghana government said the Syrians could come and visit their relatives here. How many Syrians came in and who are they? All these things have security implications. The government must come out and tell us,” Dr. Danso added.

Background

The move to host the two in the country was criticized by many observers including the then-in-opposition New Patriotic Party, who described the two as a security threat despite assurances to the contrary by the US.

Two citizens; Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, further sued the former Attorney General and the Minister of Interior contending that the two were being hosted illegally.

The two were justified by the Supreme Court, which declared as unconstitutional the agreement between the Mahama government and the United States.

The apex court ordered the government to send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the US.

According to the judgment, government needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement, just as in the case of the two detainees.

When the matter came up for discussion in Parliament, the House was informed that the agreement that was reached under a note verbale and Memorandum of Understanding.

A note verbale is a piece of diplomatic correspondence prepared in the third person and unsigned.

Parliament subsequently ratified the agreement for the two for detainees to be in the country for two year.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Return GITMO 2 now – Antwi Danso to gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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

The post Gitmo Two deal laid before Parliament appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Although he failed to give details on what transpired, according to Mr. Cudjoe, he was again contacted during the heat of the discussion around the two in Ghana.

“In the heat of the public uproar, I was briefed. I actually got a call all the way from the States. I got two calls; one possible just immediately before they [ex-detainees] were brought in and when the matter became public as well, I got a call,” he disclosed on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday.

Mr. Cudjoe made this known after a former NDC MP, George Loh, in his attempt to justify his position that the government consulted relevant stakeholders, mentioned the name of the Imani President.

[contextly_sidebar id=”eGVyRqYzeTqqZPJ7An93GCEk0pEvPOdb”]The two detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, among others, were under detention in US custody for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda.

The erstwhile Obama government, in its bid to reintegrate them into society, deployed them to other countries, including Ghana, in January 2016 for a two years’ stay.

However, the arrival of the two generated massive public uproar in Ghana with many putting pressure on the Ghanaian government to return them to the US.

The Ghana government was also sued over the matter for not seeking approval from Parliament, since the pact was in the category of international agreements.

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court described as unconstitutional the agreement between the then Mahama government and the United States, which saw two Guantanamo Bay detainees brought into the country without Parliamentary approval.

The court, therefore ordered that the government must within the next three months send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the United States.

‘Secrecy’ in Gitmo 2 transfer was necessary – Franklin Cudjoe

But Franklin Cudjoe said he felt the ‘secretive’ nature of the processes leading up to hosting the two former detainees in Ghana were necessary.

According to him, the deal was rushed and kept under wraps by the US for fear that the matter would become too political, in addition to further security concerns.

“This decision was not taken lightly. In fact, one of the major reasons all of this was hurriedly done, and probably hushed, was because the United States government was worried that not even domestic lawmakers or advocates or civil society were going to be up in arms against it, but they were more worried about US lawmakers.”

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post I was briefed on GITMO 2 arrival – Franklin Cudjoe appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the deal was rushed and kept under wraps by the US for fear that the matter would become too political, in addition to further security concerns.

[contextly_sidebar id=”FI9o9F5qJU16KgmQK3gHvOHyu96FMqiW”]Shedding some light on the January 2016 transfer of the two Yemenis on The Big Issue, Mr. Cudjoe intimated that, the US government was trying to avoid ruffling any feathers within its Congress at the time, given the terror links of the two.

The two detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby were under detention in US custody for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda.

“This decision was not taken lightly. In fact, one of the major reasons all of this was hurriedly done, and probably hushed, was because the United States government was worried that not even domestic lawmakers or advocates or civil society were going to be up in arms against it, but they were more worried about US lawmakers.”

He explained further that, at the time, there were some lingering doubts about the two former terror suspects and “some Congress people were going to go to whatever lengths within countries like Ghana and other places that had received these persons to still chase and argue that the United States government had committed acts of infamy.”

Another fear was that, the deal between Ghana and the US for the transfer “was going to be subjected to unnecessary security exposures which then would have consequences for countries they have relations with on a security level.”

“Those things plus the notion that the political leaders at the time in this country were briefed well in advance, was for me enough,” he stated.

Mr. Cudjoe was one of the key stakeholders briefed ahead of the arrival of the two Yemen nationals.

He admitted knowing about it on the show, saying, “in the heat of the public uproar, I was briefed. I got a call all the way from the States… I got two calls, one possibly just before they were brought, and another one when the matter became public as well,” Mr. Cudjoe said.

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Secrecy’ in Gitmo 2 transfer was necessary – Franklin Cudjoe appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking on The Big Issue, he disclosed that, “the amount is available to ensure that they are catered for” but stressed that “it is not an amount that has been given to them to pocket.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”cnmach3QtnJiWK3i2cqeBGH1HTmTcAnl”]”There was an amount that was agreed for the upkeep or an amount that was proposed from the US for the upkeep of the two, and that is not something that we are disbursing as a country. We are making sure that they get everything they want.”

Without disclosing much, Mr. Loh said of the amount: “I think it is about $300,000…the agreement is just for two years.”

The former Guantanamo Bay detainees were transferred to Ghana in January 2016, when they were deemed to be of minimal risk to national security to the US.

The two detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby were under detention in US custody for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda.

The two are back in the spotlight after a Supreme Court judgment indicating that the Mahama Administration needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement, like the case of the two.

A point of concern surrounding the transfer of the two was the perceived secrecy of the whole process, with the two under tight surveillance during their stay in Ghana.

Security considerations to be made

Speaking to these concerns, Mr. Loh, who during his time Parliament, was privy to sensitive information on the matter, noted that due diligence, security-wise, was done on the matter, and key stakeholders were briefed, ahead of the transfer of the two Yemen nationals.

“I know IMANI was briefed before they came in. I know Nana Akufo-Addo was briefed before they came in. I know all the key stakeholders in this country were given a proper briefing.”

The IMANI Africa president, Franklin Cudjoe, also on the show, confirmed he was briefed before the two were brought into the country, as he too indicated that a lot of the information surrounding the deal was sensitive.

“In the heat of the public uproar, I was briefed. I got a call all the way from the States… I got two calls, one possibly just before they were brought, and another one when the matter became public as well,” Mr. Cudjoe said.

Mr. Loh continued to explained that, “some of the things are so security sensitive that you cannot come and run your mouth in the public domain. A lot of the things are done at a security level. American security will not put anything in writing and send formally for somebody to intercept and put out there.”

“The modalities were worked out one after the other. We had our people travel out there. We even had General Smith, who was our ambassador at the time, go and look at the people and inspect them and debrief them before they came here.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘About $300,000 being used for Gitmo 2’s upkeep’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.