Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s Advisor on Gender and Social Protection, Akosua Manu, says drug trafficking has remained a challenge for successive governments, but the volume of recent cases under the current NDC administration is a cause for concern.
Akosua Manu said drug-related offences have been recorded under successive administrations, pointing to cases that date back to the Rawlings era.
“The drug fight is not exempt to any administration. It’s the quantum and the excessiveness of it”, she said.
Her remarks come amid a string of significant drug seizures involving Ghana, including the recent interception by French authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed in a container of plastic waste originating from Ghana.
Akosua Manu raised questions about the ability of agencies such as the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), National Security and airport security authorities to effectively detect and prevent large-scale drug trafficking operations.
She called for an explanation as to how such a large quantity of narcotics was able to pass through Ghana undetected, despite drug trafficking being a longstanding challenge for successive governments.
“You have to explain why all of a sudden, in under a year,$1 billion is transiting in this small country of ours with 34 million people; there’s a problem”, she added.
She urged authorities to strengthen oversight of the institutions and systems responsible for securing Ghana’s borders and preventing the country from becoming a transit route for international drug trafficking.
Akosua Manu said the recent cases should prompt a comprehensive review of Ghana’s anti-drug trafficking measures, particularly border controls and inter-agency coordination, to strengthen efforts to prevent the country from being used as a route for the international narcotics trade.
