Citifmonline.com – The United States government has revealed that the Presidential Candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, expressed “definite reservations” about the decision of the US to transfer two former Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana, when he was consulted on the issue.
“Akufo-Addo was consulted and since I didn’t consult him I don’t want to mis-characterize his response; but we did both seek to inform and to solicit his views.
“He had reservations. He had very definite reservations,” the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson revealed.
According to him, the US government undertook 18 months of consultation with the government of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and other stakeholders before transferring the two.
He explained that broad discussions surrounding the transfer of the two was geared towards allaying fears about their stay in the country.
There has been a massive public uproar over a decision by government to host the two former detainees in the Ghana.
But speaking at a press round-table meeting on Friday, Ambassador Jackson, who recently started his job in Ghana, reiterated that the former detainees pose no security threat to the country.
“… I believe that it is in everyone’s interest to give them another opportunity to have a normal life and I believe that if anyone in this country should be concerned about their being here it is me; and I can tell you that I am not worried about my security based on their presence.”
He explained that it would have been senseless to send the detainees back to Afghanistan since they had not yet been integrated into that country.
Ambassador Jackson explained that US government decided to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center because it “provides a propaganda tool for terrorist organisations.”
The government of Ghana joined 55 other governments in the world in accepting the ex-detainees from the detention center.
