<<Print>>The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said its Presidential Candidate Nana Akufo Addo will not make any pronouncement aside what the party has publicly put out, in relation to government’s provision of shelter for two ex detainees of Guatanamo Bay Cell in Ghana.
The ruling National Democratic Congress(NDC) has challenged the largest opposition Leader, Nana Akufo Addo, to make his position known to Ghanaians on the decision by government to shelter two ex Guatanamo Bay Cell detainees in Ghana.
The NDC insists it’s important that Nana Addo who wants to become President is heard on what decision he would have taken if he were to be confronted with the situation upon assuming power.
Mahmoud Omar Mohammed Bin Atef, 36, and Khalid Shayk Mohammed, 34 – are in Ghana at the behest of the US government. They will be in Ghana for two years at the cost of the US authorities.
But the public including faith-based organizations have condemned government’s move to house the two who are viewed by many Ghanaians as a security threat, but government insists the two pose no threat to the country, as the US will help provide the necessary security support to monitor them.
Addressing a media encounter at the seat of government, the Flagstaff House, President John Mahama stated that Ghana is not the only country to have accepted to accommodate former detainees, citing Uganda, Cape Verde, Uruguay, and France as some of the benevolent countries.
He questioned why Ghanaians have suddenly failed to make good their faith based compassion and hospitality which the good people of Ghana are well noted for.
But the NPP in a statement condemned the government’s decision to accommodate the two former detainees and further demanded accountability from government over the two.
However speaking on Kasapa FM, the Communications Director of NDC, Solomon Nkansah stated that if Nana Akufo Addo wants Ghanaians to take him seriously, then he should speak publicly on the matter.
“If Nana says he is a brave man and believes President John Mahama has committed an unpardonable crime by accepting the two ex detainees to be housed in Ghana, then he should boldly tell us what he would have done as President. Just as Nana Akufo Addo challenged former President Mills that, he (Nana) would have sent Ghanaian soldiers to fight in Côte d’Ivoire, we dare him to speak now.”
But speaking on Kasapa FM Thursday, the Communications Director of the NPP, Nana Akomea stated that the ruling party will be waiting in perpetuity to hear Nana Akufo Addo speak on the matter.
“The NDC should forget it, Nana Addo will not speak on this issue. If he (Nana Akufo Addo) had not sanctioned the party’s statement, we couldn’t have released it.”
Meanwhile, Pollster Ben Ephson has hailed the New Patriotic Party’s Flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for restraining himself of any comment on the raging debate surrounding the two cleared terrorist suspects of Yemini origin in Ghana.
In an interview the Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch said he[Akufo-Addo] is very tactful not to play politics around International diplomacy, eventhough it was possible for the largest opposition party to have descended into the politics of the day by using the issue as a major propaganda tool ahead of the November polls.
“The party would have strategized to campaign on the basis that if Ghanaians vote for them, they will return the Yemeni nationals to their home country, but Nana Addo understanding diplomacy will throw away such politics” Ephson argued.