Henry Nana Boakye
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on President John Mahama to immediately dismiss the heads of some state institutions, including the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and National Security, over what it describes as repeated failures to prevent cocaine trafficking through the country.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Accra, Second National Vice Chairman of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye, said the heads of the institutions should be dismissed as about 14 major cocaine and narcotics busts have been linked to Ghana between March 2025 and October 2026, with the estimated street value of cocaine seized abroad alone put at between US$1.3 billion and US$1.7 billion.
“Let us name them. The heads of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and National Security are charged with keeping cocaine out of our ports, our airport and our country.
“On their watch, Ghana has become the transit hub of choice for international cartels. They have failed, and they have failed repeatedly. They must be sacked, and they must be sacked now. A President who keeps them at post after fourteen busts is not protecting Ghana. He is protecting them,” he stated.
According to the party, seven of the 14 reported drug busts occurred in Ghana and involved approximately 3.6 tonnes of cocaine, while more than 12 tonnes of cocaine allegedly traced to Ghana were intercepted in foreign jurisdictions, including Amsterdam, Antwerp, Dunkirk and Beirut.
The NPP also cited the latest incident in Beirut, Lebanon, where a Syrian national who reportedly travelled from Accra was arrested on October 31, 2026, with 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in two suitcases fitted with electronic tracking devices.
The party questioned the explanation offered by the Narcotic Control Commission that the shipment was allowed to leave the country as part of a controlled delivery operation conducted in collaboration with Lebanese authorities.
The Second National Vice Chairman of the NPP said the narration conflicts with accounts from officials of the Ministry of the Interior and NACOC regarding the arrest of three foreign nationals allegedly connected to the incident.
He said, “Even more shocking than the busts themselves is the government’s response to them. To date, President Mahama and the NDC government have not held a single appointee in any of the relevant preventive institutions accountable. Not at NACOC. Not at the Ghana Airports Company. Not at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority. Not at National Security. Not one.”
The party, therefore, demanded that government publish the names, nationalities and charges of all persons arrested in the country in connection with the Beirut seizure, as well as ensure that they are arraigned before a court, while questioning why officials allegedly involved in facilitating the movement of the cocaine through the Accra International Airport had not been arrested, following reports from Lebanese customs sources that bribes were paid to enable the courier to pass through airport security.
The party also mentioned that the two-week deadline given by President Mahama following the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the Port of Dunkirk in September 2026 in France, which prompted President Mahama to convene an emergency security meeting on September 17 and establish an inter-agency task force, had expired on October 1, without the promised document being made public.
Apart from calling for the dismissal of the four security agency heads, the NPP also called for a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry into all Ghana-linked cocaine seizures recorded since January 2025, and also urged government to publish the task force’s roadmap, provide a joint account with Lebanese authorities of the Beirut operation, investigate alleged bribery at the Accra International Airport, and disclose all diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025.
Henry Nana Boakye further demanded the suspension of the direct shipping arrangement between the Port of Tema and Colombia’s Port of Cartagena pending a comprehensive security review.
He warned that the recurrence of the seized cocaine and narcotics could undermine Ghana’s international reputation and expose the country to the wider consequences of organised criminal activity, including money laundering, corruption and violence.
“People of Ghana, whatever our challenges, the world has long known us as one of Africa’s most peaceful and stable democracies, and one of its most welcoming destinations. Cocaine does not travel alone. It brings guns, money laundering, corrupted officers and, in time, the violence we have watched destroy other nations on this continent and in Latin America.
“Already, honest Ghanaian travellers and exporters face extra suspicion at foreign airports and ports. If we look on while this menace takes root, we will lose in a few years a reputation it took us generations to build,” he added.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah