The Minority Leader Alezander Afenyo-Markin has criticised the Speaker of Parliament for dismissing their motion to investigate the cocaine busts.
Despite the dismissal of their motion, Afenyo-Markin said that the Minority will not rest on this matter but will use every legitimate means to get the general public informed about what is causing the cocaine arrests.
“We will not let this matter rest; unfortunately, the Speaker denied the Minority the opportunity to be heard.
“The 24 Hour economy has turned into 24 Hour cocaine, and the Majority is not at all interested in scrutiny; we will not rest,” he said at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, September 29.
He further said that the ruling by the Speaker has failed the integrity test required of Parliament to discharge its duty.
Afenyo-Markin says that clearly, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is afraid of its own failures.
He added that the decision of the Speaker of Parliament to dismiss their motion to institute an ad hoc probe into the cocaine busts has weakened the function of Parliament.
He says that the decision is sad for Ghana’s democracy.
“Today is a sad day for our democracy and parliamentary oversight. The majority has once again used its supermajority, with the support of the Speaker, to weaken Parliament.
“Clearly, the NDC government is afraid of its own failures. This ruling by Mr Speaker has failed the integrity test required of parliament to discharge its duty,” he said.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has rejected the motion by the Minority to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate recent drug busts.
The Speaker made this order during Parliament’s emergency sitting on Tuesday, September 29, to consider the motion filed by the Minority to set up the committee to probe the cocaine busts.
“It is inadmissible under Standing Orders 5, 6, 103, Rule F, Order 192 and Order 233, and I accordingly dismiss this motion in limine,” the Speaker said.
The motion, filed by First Deputy Minority Whip and Tolon MP Habib Iddrisu, called for the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate a series of high-profile narcotics seizures in Ghana and abroad.
Among the incidents cited was the seizure of 3.9 metric tonnes of cocaine by French Customs at Dunkirk on September 10, 2026, which the motion values at $261 million.
It also cited the seizure of 320kg of methamphetamine by Australian Border Force on June 18, 2026, as well as cocaine interceptions in Takoradi and Pedu in Cape Coast in March 2025.
The proposed committee would investigate the circumstances under which the consignments were processed and cleared in Ghana, including the ports from which they departed and the intelligence profiling, scanning, physical inspection and customs procedures applied.
The motion also sought to establish the identities and roles of companies, state agencies and other entities involved in processing and clearing the consignments, subject to legitimate restrictions arising from ongoing criminal investigations.
The proposed inquiry would further examine the adequacy of Ghana’s security systems at its ports, airports and other entry and exit points, including scanning, surveillance and intelligence capabilities.
The Minority was also asking Parliament to examine the status of investigations, arrests and prosecutions connected to the seizures and assess the extent of cooperation and intelligence sharing between Ghanaian authorities and international law-enforcement agencies.
