Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has welcomed President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to restore the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) to Ghana’s port inspection agencies.

Gyamfi said the move would strengthen efforts to prevent drug trafficking through the country’s entry and exit points.

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In a post on X on Monday, September 21, 2026, he said he was concerned about a recent drug seizure in another jurisdiction, reportedly linked to one of Ghana’s ports.

According to him, such incidents could point to weaknesses in the monitoring and inspection systems at Ghana’s ports.

“In Ghana, the body mandated to monitor, regulate, enforce and control the trafficking of narcotics is the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC),” said.

Gyamfi noted that NACOC was removed from the list of Port Inspection Agencies by the government in June 2018.

While he said the reasons for the decision were unclear, he argued that it affected the commission’s ability to monitor activities at the country’s ports.

“It is therefore intriguing that the NACOC was completely removed from the list of Port Inspection Agencies by the government in June 2018,” he wrote.

He added that the decision “weakened NACOC’s port inspection function and denied it the ability to detect and prevent drug trafficking through the country’s ports of entry and exit.”

Gyamfi said he was therefore encouraged by President Mahama’s directive for NACOC to be restored to the list of Port Inspection Agencies with immediate effect.

He said the commission had also been directed to have access to all entry and exit points by air, land and sea.

“As someone who has closely worked with the Major General Maxwell Obuba Mantey-led NACOC in fighting gold smuggling, I am confident that with the necessary support, the NACOC will succeed in stemming this tide,” he wrote.

Gyamfi further said he understood that the President had directed for scanners and personnel at the country’s ports to be changed immediately.

He expressed the view that the measures, if properly implemented, could improve security and checks at Ghana’s ports.

“I believe that these measures, if implemented effectively, will strengthen checks and control at our ports to forestall the recurrence of these unfortunate incidents,” he added.

His comments come amid renewed concerns over the use of Ghana’s ports as transit points for illicit drugs, with authorities facing calls to tighten monitoring and inspection systems.

NA/AM

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