The two Guantanamo Bay detainees Ghana agreed with the United States of America to host them in 2016 for two years have exhausted their stay.
Per the agreement, the 2 detainees effectively ended their stay on January 6, 2018.
The two detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, who were alleged to be part of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda were detained for 14 years at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The two were released as part of efforts to close down the US-operated Guantanamo Bay prison, which is known to have had a questionable human rights record over the years.
Upon their arrival in Ghana, scores of Ghanaians including the then-in-opposition New Patriotic Party described the two as a security threat despite assurances to the contrary by the US.
Supreme Court ruling on GITMO 2
Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, the two plaintiffs sued the immediate past Attorney General and Minister of Justice as well as the Minister of the Interior in 2016, accusing the government of illegally admitting the two former Gitmo detainees without recourse to the Constitution of Ghana.
The Supreme Court in its ruling stated that the agreement signed by former President John Mahama's government with the United States to accept two Guantanamo Bay detainees into the country was unconstitutional.
In June 2017, the seven-member panel chaired by Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, upheld the claim of the petitioners.
In a majority decision which had only Justice William Atuguba dissenting, the Court stated that though the president is mandated to enter into international agreements on behalf of the country, he or she is enjoined to ratify such agreements in Parliament which were not done in this matter, hence the decision.
Also in the court’s verdict, the government was asked to send the agreement to Parliament for ratification or have the two detainees sent back to the US.
Parliament summons Foreign Minister
When the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway was summoned by Parliament, she indicated that the Nana Addo led-administration had not altered the formal agreement between Ghana and the United States over the two, she had essentially confirmed that January 6, 2018, expiry date remained.
“Mr Speaker, we have not changed anything. In the note verbale that were exchanged between the two countries. Indeed there was no agreement. The whole transaction was done through what we call a note verbale from both sides. What we have done is to attach all those documents.â€
Meanwhile, during their two-year stay under the agreement, the USA is said to have provided about $300,000 for the two Yemeni’s upkeep, which comes to about GHc 1,362,000.
According to a lawyer for the GITMO 2, Bin Atef had gotten married during his short stay in the country. Bin Atef’s wife, Haia, is a Yemeni national, and they are believed to have gotten married sometime in March 2017.
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 primenewsghana.com/Ghana News