National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party, Henry Nana Boakye has accused President John Dramani Mahama of failing to take strong action against officials allegedly connected to recent drug trafficking cases involving Ghana.
Speaking at an NPP press conference, Nana Boakye described the recent drug seizures as an “international embarrassment” and called for officials found responsible for lapses in narcotics control to be removed from office.
His comments follow a September 17 meeting chaired by President Mahama with security and port-sector agencies to assess recent drug trafficking cases and vulnerabilities in Ghana’s border-control systems.
At that meeting, the President was informed that 10 individuals, including four officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, were being held while investigations continued. President Mahama subsequently directed the formation of an inter-agency task force to develop measures to strengthen controls against narcotics trafficking.
Nana Boakye, however, argued that the government’s response had not gone far enough.
He questioned why officials allegedly responsible for failures in the system had not been dismissed and said the President’s response amounted to “pampering” those involved.
According to Nana Boakye, about nine officials should have been removed from office over the recent incidents. He urged the government to take tougher action to restore confidence in Ghana’s systems for preventing illicit drug trafficking.
The NPP official’s comments come amid investigations into several recent narcotics cases, including the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine by French customs from a container shipped from Ghana.
