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The head of the Catholic Bishop Conference has agreed with President John Mahama's call for Ghanaians to show compassion to prisoners except to add that compassion must be balanced with common sense.

Bishop Osei Bonsu does not understand why the government agreed to admit people with links to terrorist group Al qaeda to cool off in Ghana after being detained for 14 years in Cuba's Guantanamo bay.

Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby are to spend two years in Ghana after they were released from Gitmo.

Their admission into Ghana has raised a huge controversy with key stakeholders in the country kicking against  the decision to bring them into the country.

The Christian Council of Ghana, the Catholic Bishop Conference and other pressure groups condemned government's decision to shelter the two ex-detainees.

But government has been resolute in defence of the decision. The Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh who issued a statement announcing the arrival of the two detainees told Radio Gold early Tuesday the two were only "footsoldiers" of Al-qaeda and had no potential risk to Ghana.

Minutes after her interview, the president John Mahama told journalists the ex-detainees are "low risk" individuals and did not play any direct operational activities with Al-qaeda.

He said they were captured and unjustifiably detained for 14 years adding as a Christian, it demands that we show compassion to people who needed help.

"I am compassionate. In the bible it teaches us to be compassionate

To what use will Christianity be without showing compassion to the people who needed help most, the president suggested.

But Bishop Osei Bonsu told Joy News' Evans Mensah  the president got it all wrong. Whilst he agreed with him in part that Christians must show compassion, he said that compassion must be shown with common sense.

He said it didn't matter whether the two were high or low risk to Ghana. "Risk is risk" he stated adding, Ghana ought not be taking that risk at all.

Citing information from the American government which said none of the Gitmo detainees must step foot in America after their release, Bishop Bonsu said "if America does not want them it means they are dangerous."

He called on the government to return the two ex-detainees to wherever they came from.