Gitmo saga: Ghana must not sleep on security – British High Commissioner

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin has cautioned that even though Ghana’s resolve in sheltering the two former detainees from Guantanamo bay is purely based on bilateral relations with its counterpart, the Ghanaian government should not be complacent on the security threats to its decision.

“It takes few people to create carnage and no one should be complacent. We should be very vigilant because it’s a real threat to us all,” Benjamin told Jay Foley and Jeremie on the LBC Morning Show on Live 91.9 FM Thursday.

He said lessons should be drawn from the incident in Burkina Faso that led to the killing of some 29 people, insisting that austere measures must be taken by the Ghanaian government to forestall any untoward event in relation to the two Yemeni guests.

The opposition party’s leader, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo Tuesday told a large crowd of party faithful in Wa that President Mahama acted in breach of Section 35 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2008, (Act 762).

That aside, he said the President’s decision not to consult the relevant stakeholders concerning the stay of the two in Ghana, has resulted in heightened levels of fear amongst the citizenry.

A lot of Civil Society Organizations and Faith Based Organisations in Ghana have waded into the unpopular conversation demanding that government return the ex-Gitmo detainees to their home country, as this they fear could threaten the security of the country.

However, speaking on Live 91.9 FM Thursday ,the British High Commissioner said the British government will remain completely neutral on the issue, saying he won’t be allowed to be tricked into making arguments that could have dire consequences on the volatile issue on the ground.

“This is essentially a bilateral issue between US, and Ghana. Here we are in January, the election here is 7th November , we are already in election season in some sense. What I won’t be doing is allowing anyone to drag us to make party political points on either side.”

By Jonathan Adjei/