Minority wants Foreign Minister to brief House on ex-GITMO detainees
The Minority in Parliament has demanded that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration be made to brief the House about the government’s decision to host two former Guantanamo Bay detainees in the country for two years.
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It said the issue bordered on governance and constitutionality for which the Legislature must be informed by the Executive.
Mahmud Umar Bin Atef and Muhammed Salih Al-Dhub were brought to Ghana in the first week of January 2016 following an agreement reached between the governments of Ghana and the US.
Their presence has sparked public outrage with a section of Ghanaians and other groups calling for their repatriation. But government officials have explained that they are “low risk” former detainees.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who raised the issue in Parliament yesterday, wondered why the business statement of Parliament as presented by the Majority Leader and Chairman of the Business Committee, Mr Alban Bagbin, did not include the issue of the two terror suspects and Syrian refugees who had arrived in the country.
Foreign Minister
He said the failure by the Majority Leader to indicate when the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration or a minister at the presidency would brief the House on how the two former detainees and refugees came to the country seemed to suggest that Parliament was not relevant to the governance.
Dr Opoku Prempeh referred to Article 75 (1) and (2) of the Constitution, which says: “A treaty, agreement or convention executed by the President should come to the House under an Act for ratification or by a resolution.”
He indicated that he was not saying that the President could not do what he had done, “but the Constitution which he has sworn to uphold says if he does that, he must refer it to this House”.
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He said there was a clear violation of the Constitution by the Executive’s failure to refer the issue to the House.
Supporting the position, the MP for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, said because of the interest that the issue about the two former detainees had generated it was crucial for the House to get a briefing on it.
Majority Leader
Mr Bagbin said there were a lot of interpretations to the Article cited by Dr Opoku Prempeh.
He said if it was the pleasure of Parliament for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration brief the House on the matter or the House wanted a debate on the issue, the members knew the procedure to take.
Speaker of Parliament
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, said the clerks of Parliament had drawn his attention to the subject matter related to the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees.
“It is with them. It has not come to my office yet,” he said.
Mr Doe Adjaho, therefore, requested the House to defer the discussion on the issue until the clerks processed it and brought it to his office.
He pledged to take the necessary steps on it, and indicated that when he was in doubt he would consult the leadership and other members of the House “to see the way forward”.