Managing Editor of The Hawk newspaper, Charles McCarthy, has raised concerns over what he describes as the excessive politicization of Ghana’s fight against narcotics trafficking, arguing that partisan interests are distracting the country from addressing the underlying security problem.
His comments come amid heightened public debate over recent cocaine seizures and calls for a parliamentary investigation.
McCarthy questioned whether a parliamentary committee would deliver meaningful results, citing what he sees as previous instances where parliamentary processes failed to provide satisfactory outcomes on major national controversies.
He further urged Ghanaians to look beyond the current cocaine controversy and examine how drugs continue to pass through the country despite existing security arrangements. He argued that Ghana must strengthen its capacity to detect and prevent narcotics trafficking rather than reduce the issue to an NPP-NDC political contest.
McCarthy also drew attention to illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, and the rapid construction of high-rise buildings in Accra, calling for greater scrutiny of the sources of funding behind major investments.
On the international drug trade, he noted that major cocaine-consuming markets are largely outside Africa but argued that Ghana and other African countries risk being exploited as transit routes where border and port security systems are weak.
McCarthy maintained that the fight against narcotics should be treated as a national security matter rather than another partisan battle, warning that reducing every major national issue to NPP versus NDC politics would do little to address the problem.
