Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has challenged the government to explain how large consignments of cocaine reportedly originating from Ghana continue to be intercepted abroad, warning that the incidents could damage the country’s international standing and expose weaknesses in its security systems.
He made the call during a parliamentary leaders’ media briefing on Tuesday, November 3, arguing that repeated drug seizures outside Ghana should prompt a closer examination of the country’s ports, customs procedures and intelligence coordination.
“Our ports must serve legitimate commerce. Our borders must command respect. Our young people deserve protection. Our country’s reputation deserves defending. The government must act,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin also disclosed that the Minority had filed an application seeking a review of Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin’s September 29 ruling on a proposed parliamentary inquiry into major narcotics seizures.
The application was filed through the First Deputy Minority Whip, Habib Iddrisu, under Standing Order 127.
The original motion sought to investigate possible institutional and regulatory failures that may have contributed to the drug trafficking incidents.
The Minority Leader maintained that the proposed parliamentary inquiry should proceed even as criminal investigations and prosecutions continue.
He argued that criminal courts are responsible for determining the guilt or innocence of individuals, while Parliament has a separate constitutional duty to examine the performance of public institutions and identify possible gaps in the country's security arrangements.
“The prosecution of individuals, however necessary, cannot absolve the government of its responsibility to account for the institutional and regulatory weaknesses that may have facilitated these incidents,” he said.
His comments come amid heightened public attention on Ghana’s alleged links to international cocaine trafficking following several seizures involving shipments reportedly traced to the country.
The Minority says it intends to pursue the matter when Parliament resumes, insisting that accountability must extend beyond the individuals arrested to the systems responsible for preventing narcotics from leaving Ghana’s borders.
