Naagyei 90.3 Fm Agyapa
The Majority in Parliament has denied claims by the Minority that government is breaching the Intelligence and Securities Act over its failure to brief the House on the status of the ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees in the country.
Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, in an open letter to the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah, demanded updated information on the two.
He said the country’s laws require the Minister to present an annual report on the intelligence agencies to parliament but he has not done that in two years.
He gave the government a 25-day ultimatum to submit the report or face legal action.
However, Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Seth Acheampong, insists government has been fulfilling the requirements of the law through closed-door meetings.
He said the committee will meet the minister when Parliament resumes sitting to get an update on the status of the Guantanamo Bay detainees.
The two Yemenis, Mahmud Umar Muhammed Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, were resettled in Ghana in January 2016 following an agreement between the John Mahama government and the Barack Obama led-U.S. administration.
They were detained at the Guantanamo Bay for 14 years after they were linked to the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda but were later released as part of US government’s plan to shut down the facility.
Their stay in Ghana ended on January 6, 2018, but the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said the men have been granted a refugee status without its knowledge.
The Minority believes that “the current worsening insecurity situation which has attracted unprecedented domestic and international concern in the aftermath of the assassination of undercover journalist Ahmed Hussein-
Source: Myjoyonline.com
