|
No room for Yemeni
undesirables in Ghana!!
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Folks, I woke up this morning to read a news report that has
really angered me beyond description. For the first time in
my life, I got really pissed off and let down. If you have
read that report too, you should feel the way I do. If you
haven’t yet, here is it in substance:
“The US government says it has clarified and addressed all
security lapses before transferring two Yemeni detainees
from the Guantanamo Bay prison to Ghana, nearly six years
after their transfer approval.
The two, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad
Salih Al-Dhuby had been in detention for 14 years, after
being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
However, a US multi-agency review undertaken at the start of
the President Obama administration decided both men posed
minimal risk to national security and ought to be
transferred.” (See http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/US-grateful-Ghana-received-Yemeni-Gitmo-ex-convicts-405754).
That news report was attributed to the US Department of
Defense, which had announced the deal in a statement on its
Web site on Wednesday.
Why should I be angry beyond measure, you may ask. Many
reasons, none of which agrees with what Ghana’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (Hannah Tetteh)
adduced when she said “They [Atef and Al-Dhuby] are unable
to return to Yemen at the moment” and that the Ghana
government has agreed to accept them for a period of two
years after which they may leave the country.”
Now, let’s raise some disturbing questions on this matter:
1. We have been told that the “quiet negotiations” between
the US authorities and their Ghanaian counterparts took a
year to conclude for the agreement to transfer the two
Yemenis to be clinched. And all that while the Ghanaian
government didn’t inform Ghanaians about the US’ proposal
and why it chose Ghana to dump those Yemenis in?
We are concerned at this level of secrecy, which amounts to
nothing but a betrayal of the trust of Ghanaians that the
government that they have put in power will do things in a
transparent manner to uplift standards of governance and use
the mandate for the general good. Entering into such a
negotiation to the blind side of the citizens and concluding
it for these Yemeni undesirables to be dumped in the country
constitutes a grave offence. It abuses the people’s trust
and cannot be supported, no matter how the government
explains its stance and the circumstances surrounding the
deal.
It must be pointed out here that the government
miscalculated terribly and will pay for it. No one should
assume that there are gains for Ghana in this deal. There is
none, especially if we consider the fact that nothing of the
sort could have happened in the US without the matter being
laid before the people. Governance in the US calls for
disclosure of deals of this sort so the people could be
informed early enough, even before a decision could be made.
Not so in Ghana, where a serious issue of this sort was
handled behind an iron curtain of dreadful secrecy. Why the
secrecy, anyway?
This happening only tells me that our kind of democracy is
bogus. How could the government alone make such a decision
without dropping any hint for the citizens to participate in
the discourse about the matter? Of course, once someone is
tainted with accusations/allegations of terrorism, such a
person poses danger wherever he/she is. And because of the
wave of terrorist activities sweeping across some parts of
Africa and the fear that it has the potential to do so in
seemingly stable and peaceful areas on the continent
(because of hardliners in partisan politics, religious
extremists instigating the youth, and economic hardships
engendering disaffection), our government should not have
rushed into this deal. It should have sought a wider
consultation with the people (if even with Parliament)
before bowing to the US’ pressure. I have very serious
concerns here.
2. Did the government involve any other organ of state,
especially Parliament, in the negotiations; if it didn’t,
why? And what has parliament itself done about the matter
until now that it has been revealed?
If Parliament was not informed or involved in the deal,
then, it is worse than the non-performing broken link in our
democracy that it has registered itself all these years. Why
would the government sideline it, anyway?
3. Why did the US choose Ghana and none of its
better-positioned allies to dump these Yemeni undesirables
in? What was the basis and the motivation for settling on
Ghana, knowing very well that Ghana can’t be described and
accepted as its most trusted and reliable ally in our part
of the world?
Certainly, after losing its geopolitical base in Liberia
under Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor, the US had no “friend”
in our part of the world to hang on to. Its attempts to
manipulate the situation with the view to establishing a
marine base in Ghana failed; so also did its arm-twisting
manouevres regarding homosexuality and threats to cut off
aid to African countries resisting it. Ghana is known for
standing firm. Why now buckle?
4. What did the Ghanaian government under John Mahama hope
to gain from this deal for Ghana’s good?
5. On what basis did the Ghanaian authorities agree with the
US that the Yemeni undesirables were not a security threat
(to the US) and should, therefore, be sent to another
country, none other than Ghana? Did their not being
considered a security threat to the US mean that they won’t
be such to other systems?
6. How will these Yemeni undesirables be kept in the
country? Under lock and key or flushed into the society to
mingle with Ghanaians or just anybody in the country? Who
will monitor their movements and activities? At what cost?
And why impose that burden on our system as if we have too
much time/money and too little to do?
We note here that these Yemeni undesirables have connections
with people and networks that cannot be completely known and
neutralized, which explains why harbouring them in Ghana
isn’t acceptable to me.
And we will be more annoyed if we unpack Hannah Tetteh’s
porous statement that the Yemeni undesirables “may leave the
country” after being hosted by Ghana for two years. MAY
leave the country? The modal (“may”) is ambiguous and
troubling here because it puts the onus on the undesirables.
What happens if they don’t leave? It’s a decision that they
have to make, which is wrong. The onus must be on Ghana, if
anything at all, to send them packing off.
Again, for the Minister to defend them by saying that they
“are unable to return to Yemen at the moment” is stunning.
Why can’t they return to their country of origin but find
solace in Ghana? And who will support them? The Ghanaian tax
payer or the US government? Why Ghana of all countries in
the world?
Folks, I am really angry, as you can see from my reaction.
While Ghanaians travelling to (or living in) other parts of
the world are subjected to all kinds of inhumane treatment
and the Ghanaian government and its missions fail to support
them, what is the justification for bringing into the
country foreigners—at worst, the undesirable ones—to be
taken care of?
As for the side issue on Syrian refugees, the least said
about it, the better. What exactly is wrong with these
people in government? It is no more a matter of misplaced
priorities but one of atrocious mischief.
Before I explode, let me sound this warning to the
government. This issue with the Yemeni undesirables will
further dent its image and give the opposition a strong
point with which to tear it down. I have already foreseen
the angle from which they will do politics with it, playing
on the emotions of the people as far as terrorism is
concerned and why the government is not being responsible.
They will harp on the fact that the government has chosen to
open the country to terrorists to target or that it is now
harbouring terrorists, which won’t redound to its image.
In this early part of the year, the government should be
careful how it does things so it doesn’t add more fuel to
the fire burning on the political landscape. There is so
much anger among the citizens faced with high tariffs and
harsh living conditions, which will add to the spark being
provided with this hosting of the Yemeni undesirables to
darken its political path. The major electioneering campaign
season isn’t yet here with us, but it is obvious that the
government is doing things to be pushed to the wall.
I urge Parliament and all well-meaning Ghanaians to take up
this matter of the Yemeni undesirables and act for the
decision to be reversed. Let the government know that Ghana
can do better without being inserted into this Guantanamo
Bay problem created by the US. Once Ghana had no hand in how
the so-called detainees were first identified, tracked,
arrested, and kept at the Guantanamo Bay, it shouldn’t have
anything to do with how they are disposed of.
If the US captured them in Yemen, what prevents it from
returning them there but to scatter them all over the world
to create cells for future terrorists to profit from? We in
Ghana must be alarmed enough to call our government to
order. What else is hidden from the public? My anger won‘t
subside or evaporate soon.
For the records, let it be said again and again that the
United States has no permanent friend but permanent
interests—and those interests know no bounds. Seizing the
Guantanamo Bay from Cuba itself was an act done in pursuit
of a territorial interest. Ghana has nothing to do with
Guantanamo Bay and shouldn’t open its doors to anybody
detained there, whether cleared by the US or not.
President Mahama has a lot of explaining to do and he must
take it up immediately. Some may claim that the deal cannot
be reversed, which I dismiss as stupid. Who signed the
agreement with the US? When? And why? Ghana deserves
better!!
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor
to continue the conversation.
|
