'Spare us terrorism, graft trouble enough'

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central in the Central Region, Ken Ohene Agyapong, has said Ghana is better off living under corruption than meddling in world crisis.

The MP expressed this opinion as a result of government’s decision to accommodate two ex-detainees of Guantanamo Bay in Ghana.

In an interview with Asempa FM’s Kwadwo Asare-Baffour Acheampong on 'Ekosii Sen' Monday, January 11, 2015, the MP said the country does not have the capacity to monitor the two without any untoward consequences.

“What equipment, instrument, and logistics does Ghana have to monitor the activities of the detainees to prevent trouble?” he asked.

“President Mahama has disappointed me….I am reading something about Haruna Iddrisu, I don’t know how far that is true… he has spent about GHS900,000 on foreign trips, but all that aside we live in peace.

“We are better off under corruption than being involved in this world crisis, which will bring problem to the people of Ghana,” Mr Agyapong said.

“We do not have any sophisticated technology to monitor and control their movements,” he stressed.

“My question to Mahama is: ‘Why are they [the ex-detainees] not in America if the Americans have cleared them of any acts of terrorism? It’s a shame.”

Many groups have called on government to return the two terror suspects who have ties to terrorist groups, Al Qaeda and the Taliban, to their country.

The National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, has said government’s decision to accept the suspected terrorists is a continuation of the injustice the United States of America is perpetrating across the world.

International relations expert Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso has also said it could open up the country to security threats.

Also, a former presidential advisor in the Kufuor administration, Vicky Bright, has said Ghana, by accepting the detainees, was importing trouble to its shores.

Former Deputy Minister for the Interior, K.T. Hammond has said the two should be sent back to Guantanamo Bay.

The Minority in Parliament has also raised concerns about the failure of the presidency to consult the House over the matter.

The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has expressed similar concerns. The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council and the Catholic Bishops have also kicked against the move and demanded that the two be sent back.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister, Hanna Tetteh, has said Ghanaians must not panic about the relocation of the two Guantanamo Bay ex-convicts to Ghana, since, according to her, they pose no threat to the security of the country.