The Supreme Court has ruled against an agreement between the then Mahama government and the United States that brought two Guantanamo Bay detainees into the country, declaring it as as "unconstitutional."

The two detainees, Mahmud Umar Muhammad 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, to be reintegrated back into their home countries, a decision that received a huge backlash from Ghanaians.

A seven-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo by six to one  ruled that the executive arm of Government at the time should have consulted parliament before agreeing to the transfer.

It said the agreement reached by the the government of Ghana and the United States was one that falls directly under the purview of the provisions of Article 75 of the 1992 constitution and the then government ought to have sought parliamentary approval before the two detainees were admitted into the country.

It has therefore given parliament three months to approve the transfer deal. If that deadline is not met then the two former detainees could have to leave the country.

By Farida Mohammed