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President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday explained that there was no monetary consideration before accepting two Guantanamo bay detainees to live in the country for the next two years.



He said Ghana is part of the international community and therefore has the responsibility of taking care of some of the international challenges, hence government's decision to accept them.

President Mahama gave the explanation when he held his third consecutive news conference to explain some government policies and beyond at the Flagstaff House, Kanda.

Since his swearing-in as the President of Ghana, President Mahama had since 2014 held news conferences to mark the occasion, where explanations are offered for some of the decisions his country had initiated.

The conference was attended by more than 100 journalists from the state, private and international media who asked questions on all the sectors of the economy and foreign policies.

President Mahama said considering the emergency state of the request for the hosting of the detainees, government could not under those circumstances refer the issue for parliamentary consideration.

He stated that adequate due diligence was carried out to ensure that their arrival would not become inimical to the development agenda of the country and its citizens.

"As the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, the security of this country is of maximum concern and I will not take any decision that will jeopardise the lives and peace of this country," President Mahama added.

The President said apart from what the United States has done, Ghana has also interrogated and investigated the detainees before settling on the decision to host them.

President Mahama said refreshingly, the detainees had not played any meaningful role in the Afghanistan crisis and all security checks did not indict them of any criminal activity, although government would continue to monitor their movements in every minute that they live in Ghana.

He said what Ghana should rather fear, is the unknown, but once the detainees are known and brought to Ghana on condition, adequate measures would be taken to ensure trouble-free during their stay in the country.

The President said as part of Ghana's foreign policy, the government had over the years received refugees, entangled political leaders and other nationals and therefore taking custody of the detainees was in fulfillment of the foreign policy the country had engaged in over the years.

"The Bible teaches us to be compassionate to people and accepting the detainees is just part of the compassion we have with people and people from other areas in the world."

In the bid to reduce high crime rate in the country, President Mahama said government would continue to retool the security agencies to perform their duties professionally to ensure peace and security.

He explained that government had since 2009 increased the police personnel from 23,000 to 32,000 and would continue to recruit more personnel to meet the United Nations standards of one policeman to 50 citizens.

President Mahama added that the retooling of the police had resulted in their high performance in the seizure of arms and ammunitions in Kumasi and the tracking and arrest of a Briton, who allegedly run to Ghana after murdering his girlfriend.