THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE GITMO 2 BROUHAHA
By Iddi
Muhayu-Deen
When we say the John Mahama NDC
administration was the most clueless and incompetent in the history of Ghana,
some of you don’t get it. Ok, let me see if I can make you get it, using the infamous
‘GITMOGATE’ and their handling of same. Now watch this;
President John Mahama, purportedly
acting on behalf of the government and people of Ghana, signs an agreement with
the US government which enjoins Ghana to accept two ex-detainees of Guantanamo
Bay, which used to host suspected terrorists and other high risk people. President
Mahama refuses to inform the people of Ghana about this decision
notwithstanding its national security ramifications. By this, the President
violates Article 75 and 21 of the Constitution of Ghana as well as the
Anti-Terrorism Act (Act 762).
His Interior Minister as well as
Foreign Affairs Minister, both of whom were members of the National Security
Council, claimed to be UNAWARE of this deal. Parliament, which is the representative
of the people, was also NOT kept in the know. Perhaps, Mahama was the only
person who knew everything about this deal he negotiated. It was shrouded in
secrecy before the Ghanaian people, in whom the sovereignty of this country per
Article 1(1) of the 1992 Constitution, resides.
In fact, but for the Fox Magazine, a
newspaper in the United States that initially broke the story, these terror
suspects would have been living in Ghana for as long as they wish without
anybody knowing. It was only when the Fox Magazine exposed President Mahama
with this publication that his government felt the need to inform Ghanaians
about the presence of these suspected terrorists in Ghana, by which time, the guys
had already spent about a month in the country and were being catered for with
our taxes.
President Mahama wouldn’t also tell
us how much dollars was paid to him for doing America this great favour even
though the BBC reports that the US government often compensates countries that
agree to take such risks. As a matter of fact, the last ex-gitmo detainee that
was resettled in the UK by name, Shaker Aamer came with a compensation package
amounting to US$ 1 million.
It is instructive to note that the US
Senate, at some point, passed a law REJECTING the resettling of any
ex-guantanamo detainee on US soil because such detainees were deemed to be
extraordinary dangerous people, as in the words of the former US Secretary of Defence,
Donald Rumsfeld. That is why the US pays so much compensation to countries that
accept these ex-detainees and suspected terrorists.
So, if almighty US, with all their
unparallel security sophistication, fear to accommodate these ex-detainees from
the notorious Guantanamo Bay, why would John Mahama think that a poor and
helpless country like Ghana could accommodate them? A country [Ghana] with a very porous security architecture where for
instance, on December 25, 2012, a Nigerian terrorist connected to Al-Qaeda, by
name, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutalib made a smooth passage through our one and only
international airport [Kotoka] with some dangerous explosives (bombs) to the
United States, where he was apprehended.
Fast forward to 2017, the Supreme
Court of Ghana slams President Mahama and declares his action in accepting the
gitmo 2 without regard to the due process of law, as UNCONSITUTIONAL and gives
this current government, one of two options. To either take them back to the US
or get Parliament to ratify the agreement. But the first option was not
enforceable because in the agreement that was signed, the guys could not be
taken back to the US. Also, seeing that the two years asylum granted them by
the Mahama government had almost elapsed, the only option available to this
government was to ratify the agreement, which was done.
Meanwhile, the NDCs knew very well
that, in the agreement they signed, there was NO EXIT PLAN for the gitmo 2 to
exit the country upon expiration of the two years. How pathetic! It is only an
incompetent government that cannot think beyond two years and conduct its
affairs accordingly. The agreement, as noted, also specifically states that,
taking them [the gitmo 2] back to America after the two years was a NO option.
This meant that in the event no other
country is willing to accept them, Ghana would necessarily have to keep them
willy-nilly. As if we haven’t seen enough absurdity and incompetence from the
NDC, it has also now emerged that they had actually given the detainees REFUGEE
STATUS to allow them to stay in Ghana permanently until they themselves decide
otherwise. How can you be this wicked to your country?
This again happened at the blindside
of everybody including the people’s representatives [Parliament]. And interestingly,
this shocking revelation comes at a time this government had made substantial
progress in its negotiations to send them to Morocco. In fact, they conferred
the refugee status on these detainees six clear months before the expiration of
their period of asylum.
Yet, all along, the NDC made us
believe that this government could have deported these people back to the US or
any other country. How hypocritical! For the avoidance of doubt, the 1951 United
Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, of which Ghana is a
State Party, clearly states that refugees CANNOT be compelled to leave their
host country without their consent except where they clearly breach the
provisions of the Convention.
And please do not be deceived into
thinking that these ex-gitmo detainees (Ben Atef and Mohammed Salih) are not
dangerous people. They were in fact arrested on the BATTLEFIELD, where they
were being trained by almighty Osama Bin Laden [arguably, the world’s greatest
terrorist of all times]. One of them was said to be his personal driver and
bodyguard. You can’t tell me that these guys do not pose any terror risk to our
country.
If they were not suspected terrorists,
why were they caged in Guantanamo for over 14 years together with the world’s
most dangerous people? How can we be sure that their extremist ideology hasn’t
been badly influenced by the long detention? The truth of the matter is that
these gitmo guys still pose a major security threat. Their fundamentalist
ideology at the time they were arrested by the US government has further been
accentuated by the over 14 years of incarceration in Guantanamo.
Also, there are records to show that several
ex-gitmo detainees went back to terrorism after they had been set free by the
US government and were resettled in other countries. Here, mention can be made
of former detainees like Abdulai Mehsud, Mullah Shahzada, Maulvi Abdul Gafar,
Mohammed Ismail, Abdul Rahman Noor, Mohammed Nayim Farouq and several others.
The fact that these gitmo 2 have
lived in Ghana for two years and we haven’t had any terrorist attack doesn’t suggest
that they have reformed. Two years can certainly not be enough for such
conclusion to be drawn. In fact, in the year 2012, one Al-Kossi, an ex-gitmo
detainee who was resettled in Sudan went back to terrorism two years after he
was resettled.
He is now said to be a chief terror
in Yemen [the very country these gitmo 2 hail from] and a danger to the world. It
is even possible that there is a direct nexus between the presence of these gitmo
guys and the recent arrest that has been made of some suspected ISIS agents in
Accra who were carrying bombs (grenades) and other explosives. That’s how John
Mahama chose to jeopardize the security of this country by accepting these
gitmo guys in the first place for whatever reasons.
You and I can only be curious in
wanting to know what would have happened if President Mahama had not accepted
the request made by the US government to host these ex-gitmo detainees thereby
putting the whole country at risk of terror attack. In 2007, when President
Kufour rejected America’s request to establish a US military camp (AFRICOM) in
Ghana following the concerns raised by many Ghanaians, did the country lose
anything? The difference between the two political leaders and their respective
governments is what we call, COMPETENCE and the lack of it.
In the meantime, I’m confident the
current NPP government would handle this delicate issue with the needed finesse
and diligence. My fellow countrymen and women, when you go to say a prayer,
pray that Ghana never gets a leader like John Mahama again.
Assalamu alaikum
Iddi Muhayu-Deen
#ForGodAndCountry
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