“I am not the only security man in charge of security in the country, there are other security people in the system,” that is the response given by Interior Minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo on why he was not privy to security details concerning the Ex-Gitmo detainees settling in Ghana.
Mr. Mark Woyongo is widely being criticized for not being on top of his job as Ghana’s Interior Minister, on claims that he had scanty information on the terms of agreement and the security discussions held in the high level Gitmo deal.
Government has been condemned for what has been described as the conflicting reports about the decision to host the two men.
Mr. Mark Woyongo, admitted on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.3 FM Monday that he could not speak authoritatively on the issue because he was not privy to discussions held on the two.
“I don’t have adequate information on that and I would ask that you spare me on that issue. When the issue was discussed I wasn’t in the country. I’m not adequately informed to speak authoritatively on this issue, so please let us leave it at that ,” the Minister for interior said.
When pressed further, if it wasn’t surprising as an Interior minister to have the risk assessment on the two Guantanamo bay detainees, the soft spoken Minister could not bear the heat and pleaded with Banson “to leave it like that” following which he hanged up the telephone.
However, he indicated earlier that the controversies on the security implications should not be a bother to Ghanaians since the two are being held under strict surveillance at the compound of the national security.
When he was asked by the host Fiifi Banson whether the volatile situation of the West Africa Sub-region, particularly the attacks in neighbouring Burkina Faso will not call for any concern in the risk assessment of the two Yemeni nationals aligned with extremist group Al-Qaeda, he said Ghana will only have to intensify security at its borders.
“It doesn’t lower the risk assessment. What it simply means is that we should now focus on strengthening security. Those people fortunately we know them….What we should be afraid of is the terrorists who are probably lurking in our borders trying to come into our country, or those who may even be in our country”
