The National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for North Dayi, says the opposition leader couldn’t have stopped the coming of the GITMO 2 to Ghana.

Mr. George Loh says the debate over whether NPP flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo was consulted or not before the former Guantanamo Bay detainees were transferred to Ghana, is moot.

The new US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, has been reported as saying “The Foreign Minister and this Embassy consulted about informing other stakeholders and so we did talk to Akufo-Addo before the transfer happened.”

His comments have reignited the debate over whether the New Patriotic Party’s presidential candidate was consulted before the detainees came to Ghana.

Mr. Jackson’s comment has been referred to as proof that earlier denials by Nana Akufo-Addo, that he was consulted before the two detainees were transferred to Ghana were dishonest.




Commenting on the debate on Joy FM and MultiTV’s news analysis programme, Newsfile, Mr. Loh said even though Mr. Akufo-Addo may have been consulted, “I don’t think that the consultation was for him to either stall the process or not; he didn’t have the power [to do so]”.

He argued the fact that the opposition leader was informed about the transfer, with the tacit approval of government, should be seen as evidence of good governance.

“This is good governance at play, to the extent that they go into consultation and our minister (for Foreign Affairs) and of course, on behalf of the President says that ‘it is important to go and brief the opposition leader that this is coming,” he stated.

“Why didn’t the minister do that herself?” senior journalist, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, who was also on the show shot back.




The MP explained that it may have been because “they thought that the best person to give all the information [was] the representative of America.”

He was alluding to the fact the Deputy Chief of Mission/Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Ghana, then acting as Chief of Mission, Melinda Tabler-Stone, informed Nana Akufo-Addo of an agreement with the Ghana government to transfer the two detainees to Ghana a day before their arrival.

The NPP and its flagbearer have been at pains to stress that Mr. Akufo-Addo was merely informed by the US Embassy about the coming of the terror suspects at a time the detainees were already on their way to Ghana.

Pro-government spokespersons on the other hand have been insisting that he was aware of the coming of the two and did not oppose same.

Mr. Loh said the debate was needless. “When you read the Ambassador’s comments, he didn’t say that we’ve consulted Nana Addo, he ‘we consulted about informing other stakeholders and so we did talk to Akufo-Addo.

“They cannot just come and drive to Nana Addo’ residence and say we want to tell him something we have agreed with the government of Ghana so they go to the Ghana government, the Ghana government says, go talk to the opposition leader, we respect his position as an opposition leader’ and for me this good governance.”

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Story: myjoyonline.com