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Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has described the ongoing saga over government’s decision to host the two Guantanamo Bay detainees as yet another example of the failure of leadership on the part of President John Mahama. According to Nana Akufo-Addo, Section 35 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2008, (Act 762), prohibits the transaction into which President Mahama entered with the United States government to host the former Guantanamo Bay inmates. Section 35 (1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2008, (Act 762), states that “The Director of Immigration or an officer authorised by the Director shall not grant an endorsement or authority to permit a person to enter this country if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is, will or has been involved in the commission of a terrorist act.” Government following assurances from the US government agreed to host two former detainees of the Guantanamo Bay in the country. The decision has ignited a massive public outcry with many accusing government of bringing suspected terrorists into the country. Nana Addo while delivering a tribute in honour of the late Alhaji Alhassan Bin Salih in Wa on Tuesday argued that President Mahama’s failure not to consult the relevant stakeholders in the country, so as to assuage the fears of Ghanaians, has resulted in heightened levels of fear. Had President Mahama done the needed consultations, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the “Ghanaian people may well have been spared the disquieting anxiety, in this time of justifiably heightened fear of global terrorism, that we are being led by a President who, ostensibly in the name of compassion, prefers to ignore laws designed to defend the most sensitive area of all, our nation’s security.”
According to the NPP flagbearer, President Mahama’s failure in showing leadership in this matter “is a sad example of his belief that he is answerable to no one, not even to the laws of the Republic, like s.35 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (Act 760), which, as President, he is sworn to uphold.” “Since he claims that only Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor have the right to criticize him, I would have wished that he had found it worthy to consult both of our two former national leaders before he took this grave decision that has consequences for us all,” he said. To this end, Nana Akufo-Addo admonished all Ghanaians, regardless of their political or religious affiliations, to “refrain from introducing religious divisions into the debate, for the issue at stake is not a religious one.”
– citifmonline
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