Gitmo saga: Parliament to quiz Hanna Tetteh

Hannah Tetteh, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana

Parliament's Defence and Interior Committee will push for an early reconvening of the House to enable the legislators quiz Foreign Affairs Minister, Hanna Tetteh, over the transfer of two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Ghana, Major Derek Oduro (rtd) has said.

This follows the huge public outcry that greeted the entrance into the country, of the two Yemeni ex-al-Qaeda fighters.

Major Oduro (rtd), who is the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, said despite claims by the government of Ghana that the transfer of the two was the culmination of a year’s negotiations between Ghana and the United States, the Committee has never been notified of any such talks.

Speaking to Class News, he said: “We are on recess and if we consider it necessary to organise our committees to meet, we will do it and we, at the appropriate time, will call the Minister to come and explain.”

“We do not know anything about it and, therefore, we must ask the Minister to come and clarify the situation and tell us why these people are in Ghana when the people of Ghana think it’s a security threat. Explanation will be demanded from the Minister,” he added.

The former military man also questioned why Ghana will accept the two ex-detainees, when “we cannot even police our own borders”.