President defends decision to accept Guantanamo Bay detainees

President John Dramani Mahama has categorically debunked claims by sections of the public that the government’s decision to accept the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees into the country was informed by monetary considerations.

He refuted allegations that he accepted Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby into Ghana in exchange for US$300 million.

The two were in detention for 14 years after being picked up in Afghanistan on suspicion that they were linked to the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda.

President Mahama dismissed those claims when he responded to questions posed by journalists at a media interaction at the Flagstaff House yesterday as part of activities marking his third year in office.

He responded to a wide range of questions on the economy, crime, unemployment, corruption, among other issues.

Risk assessment
Throwing more light on what had informed the government’s decision to accept the detainees, he stated that the United States (US) made a direct request to his government to accept the two people.

He explained that being an ally of the US, Ghana had continued to collaborate with that country in the areas of security, training and defence and added that a risk assessment conducted by the US itself revealed that the former detainees did not pose a threat to the country.

The President added that the National Security Council had also conducted some background checks on the detainees to arrive at the conclusion that they posed no security threat.

Allay fears
Allaying the fears of some Ghanaians who had expressed concern over the detainees’ presence in the country, President Mahama said the two were placed in the lowest risk category at Guantanamo Bay because they played no operational role in Afghanistan.

Some civil society organisations, including the Christian Council of Ghana, have criticised the President for accepting the detainees into the country without consulting the larger Ghanaian public, for which reason they have asked the government to return the detainees.

But President Mahama, in his response, remarked that as the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, he had the safety and security of Ghanaians as his topmost priority and that he stood to lose the most should he compromise on the safety of the citizenry.

“I will not take any decision that will jeopardise the lives of Ghanaians,” he stressed.

He told the press that Ghanaians had nothing to fear and that what should rather concern everybody was the situation of people whose identities were not known entering the country without the knowledge of security personnel.

President Mahama indicated that Ghana always received advanced information from the US and other countries on people who entered the country, which was the result of the healthy relationship Ghana had with those countries.

Against that background, he asked Ghanaians to calm their hysteric and phobic posture on the presence of the detainees in Ghana, adding that other countries had also accepted to host former detainees from the Guantanamo Bay.

Compassion
The President said Ghana had been home to refugees and that there were many Africans who chose to live in Ghana when they found their home countries unsafe to live in.

He added that the country had always shown compassion to other nationals in danger and that as part of the larger global community, it was proper to receive the detainees on compassionate grounds.

On the proliferation of guns in the system, President Mahama said the government was doing everything possible to control the situation.

Writer’s email: sebastian.syme@graphic.com.gh

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