Press Secretary to New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2028 presidential candidate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr Ekua Amoakoh, has questioned attempts to attribute Ghana’s current drug-trafficking challenges largely to port-inspection reforms introduced during the previous administration.

She has argued that the focus should instead be on strengthening the country’s present-day narcotics enforcement system.

According to Dr Amoakoh, claims that the 2018 reforms effectively removed the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) from Ghana’s ports do not accurately reflect the changes introduced under the paperless-port system.

She said NACOC was not abolished or expelled from the ports but its involvement in routine physical inspections was altered as part of a broader effort to reduce duplication, delays and excessive bureaucracy in cargo clearance.

The reforms introduced a joint-inspection approach under which relevant government agencies could conduct physical examinations together when a consignment was selected for inspection.

The system also placed greater emphasis on risk assessment, allowing authorities to concentrate resources on consignments considered to pose higher risks.

Dr Amoakoh cited documentation by the World Bank on Ghana’s paperless-port reforms and the Joint Inspection Management Information System as evidence that the changes were intended to improve coordination among agencies while making cargo clearance more efficient.

She further argued that Ghana’s subsequent narcotics seizures demonstrate that the country retained the capacity to intercept significant drug consignments after the reforms.

In January 2018, approximately 56 kilogrammes of cocaine were reportedly seized at Ghana Post, resulting in the arrest of six Ghanaian nationals in connection with the consignment.

In June 2024, NACOC, working with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, intercepted 166.88 kilogrammes of suspected cocaine at Kotoka International Airport. Two British nationals were arrested in connection with the seizure.

Dr Amoakoh said such cases raise questions about claims that the 2018 port reforms fundamentally incapacitated Ghana’s narcotics-control institutions.

She has therefore called for the current debate to focus on the effectiveness of the systems and decisions in place today, rather than relying primarily on events dating back to 2018.

"These foreign drug arrests rise under NDC. Stop blaming the opposition for your drug mess, " she said in a recent interview.

Her comments come amid renewed scrutiny of Ghana’s role in international drug trafficking following a number of high-profile narcotics cases involving consignments allegedly linked to the country.

One of the cases involves a reported US$208 million methamphetamine seizure in Australia. Ghanaian authorities have indicated that their investigations implicated individuals within the system, while NACOC has subsequently announced arrests connected to the case.

Dr Amoakoh said the allegations should be subjected to thorough investigations so that individuals who may have facilitated the movement of narcotics can be identified and, where the evidence supports it, prosecuted.

She also called for stronger intelligence-sharing, improved port surveillance, effective scanning systems and greater institutional capacity to combat the narcotics trade.

According to her, if the government believes that the existing balance between trade facilitation and narcotics security needs to be changed, it should consider strengthening NACOC’s role in physical inspections based on evidence of what works.

The wider issue, she said, "should be treated as a national-security concern rather than reduced to partisan political disagreements."


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