President Nana Akufo-Addo’s comments about the two Guantanamo Bay ex-detainees when he was in opposition will be a challenge for him as the Supreme Court (SC) has declared the presence of the two in Ghana as unconstitutional, journalism lecturer at Webster University Esther Armah has said.
“Our current president was such a critic of what happened and said on the campaign trail that if he were in power he would send these two people back to the United States. Those words may literally come back to haunt him because the critics will now hold him to that account,” he told Dr Etse Sikanku on Class FM’s World Affairs on Friday June 23.
The Supreme Court has ruled that it was unconstitutional for President John Mahama to have allowed the United States to bring two Guantanamo Bay ex-prisoners into Ghana without parliamentary approval.
A seven-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo reached the ruling by a 6-1 majority, with only Justice William Atuguba dissenting.
Ms Armah, an international journalist, explained that the critics of Mr Akufo-Addo will now expect him to take action in that regard in conformity with his position at that time.
She indicated that with the Donald Trump administration’s measures against Islam and terrorism, a very hostile situation has been created which would not allow for the repatriation of the pair and the failure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to find a way to make the ex-detainees remain in Ghana will pose a challenge for the president politically, legally, democratically, and internationally.
Meanwhile government has said in a statement issued by the Minister of Information, Mustapha Hamid, minutes after the court ruling that “the ex-detainees who have been comporting themselves well since their arrival in Ghana, continue to be under the supervision of the security agencies”.
“Government is going to take prompt steps to address the consequential orders. In the meantime, government is calling for calm amongst the populace on this matter,” it added.
