The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said President John Mahama should have consulted his predecessors JJ Rawlings and John Kufuor before allowing the GITMO ex-detainees into Ghana.

He described the ongoing saga involving the two Guantanamo Bay detainees as yet another example of the failure of leadership on the part of President Mahama.

Had President Mahama done the needed consultations, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the “Ghanaian people may well have been spared the disquieting anxiety, in this time of justifiably heightened fear of global terrorism, that we are being led by a President who, ostensibly in the name of compassion, prefers to ignore laws designed to defend the most sensitive area of all, our nation’s security.”

“Since he claims that only Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor have the right to criticize him, I would have wished that he had found it worthy to consult both of our two former national leaders before he took this grave decision that has consequences for us all,” Akufo-Addo said.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the law, as contained in Section 35 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2008, (Act 762), prohibits the transaction into which President Mahama has entered with the United States government. In addition to this, the President’s decision not to consult the relevant stakeholders in the country, so as to assuage the fears of Ghanaians, has resulted in heightened levels of fear amongst Ghanaians.

The NPP flagbearer made this known when he delivered a tribute in honour of the late Alhaji Alhassan Bin Salih in Wa, at an event of homage held on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.

According to the NPP flagbearer, President Mahama’s failure in showing leadership in this matter “is a sad example of his belief that he is answerable to no one, not even to the laws of the Republic, like s.35 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (Act 760), which, as President, he is sworn to uphold.”

Section 35 (1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2008, (Act 762), states that “The Director of Immigration or an officer authorised by the Director shall not grant an endorsement or authority to permit a person to enter this country if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is, will or has been involved in the commission of a terrorist act.”

To this end, Nana Akufo-Addo admonished all Ghanaians, regardless of their political or religious affiliations, to “refrain from introducing religious divisions into the debate, for the issue at stake is not a religious one.”