Drug trafficking: Scale of recent cases under NDC concerning – Akosua Manu

Akosua Manu, Advisor on Gender and Social Protection to NPP flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says drug trafficking has been a challenge under successive Ghanaian governments, but the “quantum and excessiveness” of recent cases under the current NDC administration is concerning.

Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Tuesday, September 22, Akosua Manu said successive administrations had dealt with drug-related cases, citing incidents dating 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 comments follow a series of major drug seizures linked to Ghana, including the recent interception by French authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed in a container carrying plastic waste from Ghana.

Akosua Manu questioned the effectiveness of agencies including the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), National Security and airport security authorities in detecting and preventing large-scale drug trafficking.

She said the authorities must explain how such a significant volume of narcotics could pass through Ghana without being detected, despite the challenge having faced successive administrations.

“When you have to explain why, in a sudden, in under a year, $1 billion is transiting in this small country of ours, 34 million people, then there’s a problem,” she added.

She called for greater scrutiny of the systems and institutions responsible for monitoring Ghana’s borders and preventing the country from being used as a transit point for international drug trafficking.

CitiNewsRoom