The Public Affairs Counselor of the US Embassy in Ghana, Daniel Fennell, has backtracked on his assertion that Ghana and the US will be sharing the cost for the upkeep and security of the two former Guantanamo detainees repatriated from the US to seek refuge in Ghana.<\/p>\n
The assertion<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>made on TV3\u2019s Hot Issues programme yet to be aired on Saturday, came as a shock to many as it contradicted the Government of Ghana\u2019s earlier claim, that Ghana will not commit any financial resources for the upkeep of the two.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a shared expense\u2026we are contributing some for the monitoring and upkeep of the individuals. We are contributing some money towards that and the government of Ghana is making all the arrangements and taking care of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When the Host of the progamme, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. probed further on whether government was using tax payers\u2019 money to take care of the former Guantanamo inmates, Mr. Fennel said \u201cI think so\u201d saying \u201cis that so difficult to imagine that Ghana would pay for something that is happening in Ghana?\u201d<\/p>\n But in what appears to be a sudden U-turn that even makes the matter murkier, Mr. Fennell told Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> on Friday, that his comments were misunderstood.<\/p>\n He thus apologized for the comment he made on TV3.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s laudable and we should be proud of Ghana,\u201d he added. Mr. Fennel also said the security of the former detainees is also \u201ca shared cost.\u201d \u201cThe government of Ghana under the constitution is responsible for the security of everything in Ghana so they are keeping track at it, they are better at it, they are smart and we think they are doing an excellent job,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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