Ghana not getting any money in Guantanamo Bay detainees transfer

Government says it is not taking any money from the United States in the deal to keep two former terror suspects in the country for two years, a move that has irked a section of the Ghanaian public.

“There was no financial consideration…we are not getting any money or aid,” Deputy Communications Minister Felix Ofosu Kwakye maintained on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Thursday.

At the request of the International Tribunal and then by the USA, two Yemeni men have been transferred to Ghana.

They are Khalid Mohammed Salih al-Dhuby, 38 years, and Mahmmoud Omar Mohmmed Bin Atef, 36. They were expected to be sent back to Yemen but the Arab country has become unsafe following internal conflict there.

Both were born in Saudi Arabia but are considered citizens of Yemen origin. They had been detained in a military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since 2002.

Ghana is getting two of the 17 detainees being sent to countries such as Uruguay, Estonia, Kazakhstan, and Oman. The transfers are part of President Barack Obama's effort to fulfill a 2008 campaign promise to close the military prison.

The detainees will be kept in Ghana for two years and all expenses on their upkeep are to be borne by the US government, the Deputy Minister explained.

Eager to explain aspects of the deal, Government says, its bi-lateral friendship with the US informed Ghana’s decision to take in the detainees.

Deputy Communications minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu also dismissed suggestions there are strings attached to the move.

He said the US government has had cause to help Ghana with no conditionalities attached and it should therefore not be surprising if Ghana does the same.

“They assist us, we assist them. We are confident that in this instance, the assistance that we are offering will not undermine our own position as a country in anyway”.

Although Ghanaian reaction gauged through social media has been largely negative, government says the fears are to be expected because of worldwide war on terrorism.

But government believes that providing the public with sufficient information should settle nerves, Felix said.

“It is natural that some apprehensions will be felt but we believe that with sufficient information….people will come to appreciate the full facts and there will be no room for speculation, misinformation or deliberate distortion of the facts with the view to create panic”

Felix Kwakye Ofosu assured Ghanaians that necessary checks have been made and the decision to take in the ex-detainees is a ‘good one’.

He said there are 55 countries that have a relationship with the US to host the detainees. In all these countries, there was no evidence that it caused any problems for the hosting nations.

Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|Edwin Appiah|[email protected]