The Vice Chairman and NDC’s 2016 Director of Elections, Hon. Samuel Ofosu- Ampofo has called on the Ghana Catholic Bishops conference to come again on their stands on GITMO 2.
Speaking on Thursday’s edition of Ahotor FM’s morning show,’Oman ye mu nsem’ with Onantefour Addae Mununkum, the Vice Chairman stated that the Bishops’ conference described the decision to resettle the two former detainees from American Guantanamo Bay Prison as “wrong” and “dangerous”.
He called on the Chairman of the conference, Most. Rev. Joseph Osei Bonsu to come out with a new statement on the decision made by the current NPP government to retain the Guantanamo Bay Prison as refugees.
The Council, in a statement on 11th January, 2016 indicated that the move posed a major security threat to Ghana especially when the country was gearing up for the 2016 general elections.
“This year is an election year and we expect our Government to focus a lot of attention on helping to secure peace and security in the country by dealing with the above-mentioned and related challenges and not to risk the security of our land by hosting two former terrorists”
“If indeed these two persons are harmless and if they have been “cleared” of any terrorist act by the US Government, as our Government and the US Government and some others want us to believe, why were they not sent back to Yemen or Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan where they come from or taken to the USA which found them harmless”
“This is why we think sincerely and honestly that to have two ex-prisoners of very dangerous backgrounds walking freely on our land is a wrong move and wish to call on Government to repatriate them as soon as practicable,” the statement, signed by the Council’s Bishop
Mr. Ofosu Ampofo further stated that the catholic bishops’ conference hastened to come out with their statement without the full fact on the issue.
“We are a sovereign nation and can take any decision if it will be to the benefit of the country; this sovereignty resides with the people of Ghana, which is then handed to the president to exercise that authority on behalf of the people”
“The president can decide to resend on any decision made by the former president, if it will affect the country in a negative manner” He emphasized
“What is destroying the country is the double standard we as Ghanaians exhibit in all that we do, especially in our politics, the government is not a principle government. They are acting opposite on all their statements and promises they told the Ghanaian people” Ofosu- Ampofo Concluded.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, who made this known in Parliament on Wednesday, she stated that the two have been given refugee status and are therefore the responsibility of the Ghana government.
According to her, there is no exit arrangement in the agreement entered into by the erstwhile Mahama-led administration with the US government.
History
The government, in January 2016, accepted the men into the country for a period of two years, despite popular opposition from groups such as OccupyGhana and the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) who demanded their return, but others, including the Office of the National Chief Imam, reiterated the need to accept them on compassionate grounds.
As of January 7, 2016, the two had already arrived in Ghana and were housed at an undisclosed location in Accra.
Unsatisfied with the arrival of the two ex-detainees, two private Ghanaian citizens — Mrs Margaret Banful and Mr Henry Nana Boakye — instituted a legal action, seeking a declaration from the court to the effect that the agreement to transfer the men to Ghana required ratification by an Act of Parliament.
The Supreme Court, on June 22, 2017, ruled that the agreement that allowed the men into the country was in violation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution, arguing that the agreement could only become valid when ratified by Parliament.
Consequently, Parliament, on August 1, 2017, ratified the agreement between the previous government and the US that led to the admission of the two ex-detainees into the country
Daniel Koranteng Kwagyiri|ahotoronline,com|Ghana
