It has emerged that one of the two ex-Guantanmo Bay detainees being hosted by Ghana has gotten married during his short stay in the country.

It is unclear whether Muhammad Bin Atef’s wife is Ghanaian but the marriage was contracted after the erstwhile John Mahama administration accepted to host him last year alongside Khalid Al-Dhuby.

Asked whether the marriage was contracted while he was in Ghana, George Clarke who has been lawyer for Bin Atef over the past two years said: “I think it was contracted while he was in Ghana but I don’t believe the woman is from Ghana.” “He is already married but I don’t think it is to anybody in Ghana.

He did get married after he got out of Guantanamo but I don’t know the details of that,” Mr. Clarke added. Bin Atef’s wife, Haia is a Yemeni. They married about two and a half months ago in Ghana.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Citi News’ Umaru Sanda Amadu minutes ago, Mr. Clarke also said his client wants to have his full freedom of movement in the country and work as well. “He wants to live a regular life. He wants to get married.

He wants to have kids…” Mr. Clarke said. Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, who were in detention for 14 years after being linked with terrorist group Al-Qaeda, were brought to Ghana in 2016, for a period, after which they were expected to be reintegrated in their home countries.

But two Ghanaian citizens, Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye, subsequently sued the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, together with the Minister of Interior, accusing then-President John Mahama of illegally bringing in the two former Gitmo detainees, without recourse to the laws of the land.

The plaintiffs were seeking among other reliefs, a “declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President of the Republic of Ghana acted unconstitutionally by agreeing to the transfer of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby.”

After staying in the country for over a year, the Supreme Court on Thursday declared as unconstitutional the hosting of the two detainees in Ghana. The court in its judgement also asked the government to put before Parliament an agreement that will legalise the two detainees’ stay in the country.

Source: citifmonline.com