The Ambassador made this revelation to some news editors today, Friday April 15, 2016.
It could be recall that the transfer of the two ex-Gitmo detainees to Ghana generated fear and panic among Ghanaian citizens, a situation which government took several attacks.
Many Civil Society Groups and the opposition criticized the NDC government for breaching the anti-terrorism Act.
During that time, the office of New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer, Nana Akufo Addo has denied reports that government consulted him before accepting to host the two former Guatanamo detainees, whilst media reports earlier suggested that he was briefed about the decision six clear months before the arrival of the two in the country.
Mustapha Abdul-Hamid who speaks for Nana Addo claimed his boss was never consulted over the issue.
However, HE Robert Jackson told the editors that, “The Foreign Minister and this Embassy consulted about informing other stakeholders and so we did talk to Akufo-Addo before the transfer happened.”
According to him, after the two were transferred a lot of consultations were made in the bid to educate the Ghanaian populace on what was at stake, saying that they met with a variety of religious, civil societies and political leaders.
“I personally met with catholic bishop conference and archbishop Duncan Williams and some of his top leadership…and I think that people now understand what happened better, “ he revealed.
According to him, the two posed no danger to the security of Ghana.
However, it has emerged that the US is currently supporting Ghana with a joint readiness operation code-named EPIC GUARDIAN, to boost Ghana’s capacity to handle terrorism that has besieged the sub-region, the Ambassador disclosed.
The exercise to be launched on April 26th will sharpen Ghana’s terror alertness, intelligence gathering and analysis skills, crisis planning and response among others for greater security and stability in Ghana and the sub-region.
Source: Newsghana.com.gh
