Kyei Mensah, Ayorkor Botchway are ignorant and arrogant - Koku Anyidoho

A Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, has lambasted the Majority leader of Ghana’s Parliament and described him as ignorant and arrogant.

He was reacting to the claims by government that the previous NDC administration tied their hands with the Gitmo two refugee status.

Government has said they were surprised to discover that the past NDC regime granted the refugee status to the two Yemeni nationals before the end of their mandatory two-year stay.

Foreign Affairs Minister appearing before Parliament on Wednesday told Parliament the two have been granted refugee status and it will be difficult to send them to another country when they have not flouted the laws of Ghana.

The Yeminis-Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby-were resettled in January 2016 following an agreement between the John Mahama government and the Barack Obama led-US administration.

The two were detained at the Guantanamo Bay for 14 years after they were linked to terrorist group, Al-Qaeda and were released as part of US government’s plan to shut down the facility.

Their stay expired on January 6, 2018 but addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway said the two were granted the refugee status without its knowledge.

But commenting on the saga, Koku Anyidoho said the ruling NPP is been disgraced with their claims.

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse,’’ he added.

"Today they [NPP] are telling us that they didn’t know the people were refugees. Are they expecting us to pardon them for their ignorance?"

‘’If they chose to be ignorant and unwise and unlettered at the time, and so did not read, did not ask all the questions before making the useless and senseless noise, they expect us to pardon them for their ignorance,’’ he quizzed further.

‘’We will not pardon them for their ignorance,’’ he stressed.

Granting the two refugee status he stated was a standard immigration practice and for so, if Shirley Ayorkor Botchway and Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu are exhibiting their gross ignorance, we will not pardon them.

‘’The attempt to exhibit their gross ignorance and arrogance will not be tolerated and pardoned…Someone should tell Kyei Mensah that I will not tolerate his ignorance and his nauseating arrogance. Whatever he is saying is whimsical, capricious and also veracious[…]He is the leader of the Majority in Parliament and I am saying whatever he is saying is whimsical and capricious.’’

Koku Anyidoho said the two were accepted into Ghana on compassionate grounds however, the Catholic Bishops Conference attacked Mahama and asked him to apply ‘’common sense’’.

Others also asked where the so-called sensible people in the country were.

‘’Ghanaians were not ready to listen to us because of the senseless noise by the NPP and other individuals who demanded the people to be deported.’’

He charged the NPP to rather apologize to Ghanaians instead of exhibiting their ‘’ignorance and nauseating arrogance.

‘’Ghanaians will deal with the NPP for their incompetence, immoral government, lies, deceit and arrogance,’’ he said.

‘’Let Akufo-Addo and his people come and apologise to Ghanaians. We shall forgive them and move on. But if they continue this way by exhibiting their ignorance and arrogance, we shall punish them at the polls in 2020,’’ he concluded.