Gitmo 2 not burden on Ghana - George Loh

A former Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dayi Constituency in the Volta Region, George Loh has observed that the two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana are not a burden to the country because their upkeep is not sponsored by the state.

He disclosed that enough resources were given to the country for the proper upkeep of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al- Dhuby within their two-year stay in the country by the US government correcting the erroneous impression by some persons that their continued stay is a drain to the resources of the state.

On Citi FM’s The Big Issue, the former Vice Chairperson on parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee revealed that as much as US$300,000 was given to the Ghanaian government just for the purposes of taking care of the detainees.

The Supreme Court last Thursday ruled that the two detainees accepted by the John Mahama led administration were living illegally in Ghana.

A seven-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo by six to one (6 -1) majority decision said the two in the country are illegal since the then government allowed them into the country without prior approval by Parliament.

Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye last year sued the Attorney General and Minister of Justice as well as the Minister of Interior, accusing government of illegally bringing in the two former Gitmo detainees, without recourse to the laws of the land.

The two plaintiffs, t sought a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana arguing that Mr Mahama as President acted unconstitutionally by agreeing to the transfer of the two without recourse to Parliament.

But Mr Loh explained that it is now the duty of the Attorney General to draft a document to parliament to ratify the president’s decision or otherwise.