Aftermath of Secret 'Cocaine' Report to Dapaah

For many, the submission of the unpublicized report of the Georgina Woode Committee to the Minister of Interior signals the beginning of the end to the cocaine menace. But for some lawyers who represented some of the witnesses before the Committee, the manner in which the report was presented has made them uncomfortable.

In separate interviews yesterday, Mr. Inusa Fuseini, counsel for Mr. Ben Ndego, the embattled Director of Operations of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) who was forced to proceed on leave following the loss of five kilograms of cocaine from NACOB and Mr. Joe Aboagye Debrah, counsel for ACP Kofi Boakye indicated their displeasure at the non-disclosure of the content of the Georgina Woode report.

Mr. Fuseini, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central told The Chronicle that the way the Committee presented its report creates room for people to perpetrate speculations. He said to safeguard the interest of the witnesses who appeared before it, the Committee could have come out with an Executive Summary on its findings so that it would curtail the dangers associated with the speculations that were currently going on.

The lawyer/MP expressed the view that considering the high level of public interest in the Committee's work and the level of expectations among the populace, the Committee should have thought it wise to make its findings known to the masses.

"The way the Committee presented its report only goes a long way to reinforce the already-held perception that the Committee was set up for a cover-up. The Committee has now pushed people to the domain of speculation, which is not good for the nation, since speculation breeds rumours, which can be used to tarnish the image of innocent souls," Ndego's lawyer stated.

Asked about the fate of his client, he explained that Ndego was not asked to proceed on leave because of the 77 parcels of cocaine that got missing from the MV Benjamin Vessel. He expatiated that Ndego was made to go on leave because of the 5 kilos of cocaine that got missing from the custody of NACOB.

Lawyer Inusah said even though the report of a Committee that was set up to investigate the loss of the 5 kilos submitted its report to the Interior Minister about 4 months ago, his client has not been told anything.

"I heard the Attorney-General saying that he was going to look at the report of the Committee on the missing 5 kilos together with the report of Georgina Woode.

Already, the report on the 5 kilos has been there for the past four months so if this one too is going to take another four months before a decision could be taken what it means is that my client is going to be in the house for eight months and I think this is unfair.

The people should be made to know their fate as quickly as possible," he said.

On his part, Mr. Debrah, lead counsel for the popular Kofi Boakye, condemned the current speculations that were being bandied around to the effect that the committee had indicted his client.

Mr. Debrah told the paper that it would have been appropriate for the committee to make its findings known so as to; firstly, prevent the current speculation, which he said could unduly harm the reputation of the people involved and secondly, to let the affected people know their fate.

The loquacious lawyer observed also that what the Committee had done had only created room for people to continue with speculations. He said so far some people have already speculated about what is contained in the report and added that if those speculations turn out to be true then the source of leakage of information on in-camera hearings could be known.

Asked what he and his colleagues would do if the Committee's report truly indicts his client, he said there was no way Mr. Boakye was going to be guilty and for that matter he saw no need to talk about steps to be taken in the event of his client being found guilty.

He insisted that based on the evidence that were presented before the Committee and the rule of law, he could affirm his client's innocence.

Mr. Debrah said it was too early for one to suggest that there could be the possibility of dragging any of the witnesses to the law courts for any charges.