Stop politicising Nayele cocaine saga - Mpiani

A former chief of staff under the Kufuor administration Kwadwo Mpiani has condemned members of his own New Patriotic Party (NPP) for making political currency out of the Nayele Ametefe cocaine scandal.

He said politicising the serious drug menace does not help Ghana in general hence both sides of the political divide must ceasefire and find a panacea to the drug business.

According to him, it is wide of the mark for the main opposition NPP to tag the Mahama administration with the cocaine label even though the ruling National Democratic Congress resorted to similar tactics while seeking power.

A former campaign manager of the NPP Boakye Agyarko has served notice the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition will use the scandal against the government come the 2016 elections.

But Mpiani has suggested all hands must rather be on deck to seek solution to the drug menace that has dragged Ghana’s name into disrepute.

“The drug menace should be taken on a national basis. It is a problem for the nation, but if we want to push it on the government because it happened at the time somebody is in office then you lose sight of the whole problem and it is a very serious problem,” the former chief of staff told Citi FM.

Mpiani said the dissolution of the governing board of the Narcotics Control Board following the 12kg cocaine bust at the Heathrow Airport was an error.

He noted: “I believe it is wrong on the principle of management because the day to day running of an institution is in the hands of the chief executive and his supporting staff. The board may be meeting once in a month or three months…

“I find it strange to dissolve a board and leave the management in place. I think in the principle of management it is wrong, unless maybe you want to prove to me that the board was asking the management to do something and management refused to do that.”