{"id":389728,"date":"2018-01-08T15:33:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T15:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=389728"},"modified":"2018-01-08T15:41:07","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T15:41:07","slug":"deal-for-gitmo-2-stay-in-ghana-expires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/01\/deal-for-gitmo-2-stay-in-ghana-expires\/","title":{"rendered":"Deal for Gitmo 2 stay in Ghana expires"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ghana\u2019s controversial agreement with the United States of America for the hosting of two former Guantanamo Bay detainees effectively ended on January 6, 2018.<\/p>\n
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 of two years.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”gTD8TFI3eWRAiedW8KHzZ4tjO1ql8pcS”]They were released as part of efforts to close down the US-operated Guantanamo Bay prison, which is known to have had a questionable human rights record over the years.<\/p>\n
The move 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The two were justified by the Supreme Court, which declared as unconstitutional<\/a><\/strong><\/span> the agreement between the Mahama government and the United States.<\/p>\n The apex court ordered the government to send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the US.<\/p>\n According to the judgment, the Mahama government needed the approval of Parliament before entering into any international agreement, just as in the case of the two detainees.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A note verbale is a piece of diplomatic correspondence prepared in the third person and unsigned.<\/p>\n Indications are that the two governments opted for a less formal mode of communication and agreement because of security considerations<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, who was briefed ahead of Ghana\u2019s decision to host two former Guantanamo Bay detainees said he felt the processes leading up to the move were necessary, despite their hosting being\u00a0declared illegal<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n A former Member of Parliament George 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.<\/p>\n Mr. Loh continued to explain on a Citi News<\/strong> platform that, \u201csome 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.\u201d<\/p>\n