The two Guatanamo bay detainees residing in Ghana will today know whether their transfer is legal or not as the Supreme Court rules on their case today.
The two, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby of Yemeni origin are among 17 detainees transferred from the prison camp in Cuba by the United States.
The decision to host the detainees in Ghana provoked a firestorm of controversy and outrage among Ghanaians, with many expressing fear that the move would undermine Ghana’s internal security and expose the country to attacks from religious extremists.
An International Relations expert, Professor Keith Bluwey, had said that the decision was “reckless” and “dangerous”, adding that the government was only interested in the financial benefits that it may derive from it.
“It is not in our interest, these people are not ordinary refugees who are being found places of rest, these are criminals, terrorists to the core, Osama Bin Laden activists and they should have no place in Ghana,” he said.
Two Ghanaians sued the Mahama led government over the decision to bring the Guatanamo detainees to Ghana based on a deal with the United States government. The plaintiffs want the apex court to rule that the Mahama administration erred in its decision to accept the Gitmo Two detainees.