A security expert Dr Elvis Botah, has called for the dismissal of some heads of Ghana’s security agencies over what he describes as failures in preventing the trafficking of narcotics through the country.
According to him, President John Dramani Mahama’s meeting with the security chiefs should go beyond discussions and result in concrete action against officials whose institutions may have failed to prevent the movement of drugs through Ghana.
“…but the point I’m making is that if the President wants to look more serious, beyond this meeting, I believe he was in this meeting with some of the people who have a hand in these things happening,” he said.
The security expert argued that narcotics trafficking involves a chain that cuts across several security and state agencies, making effective coordination and oversight critical.
He said Ghana’s transit systems, maritime security and aviation sector must all function effectively to prevent traffickers from exploiting weaknesses within the system.
“These things will happen. When they happen undetected, you have the situation we have today,” he said.
He questioned why suspected drug shipments that could have been detected were allowed to pass through the system, arguing that responsibility must be assigned where institutional failures are identified.
“If it was avoidable and detectable, why didn’t we? Somebody didn’t do his or her job,” he said.
He further argued that where an individual officer cannot be identified, the head of the institution should be held accountable for inadequate oversight.
“If we can’t identify that person, let the head of that institution, who did not place his oversight well, go home. The next head of the institution will behave,” he added.
The expert specifically called for action across multiple sectors, including the police service, the Narcotics Control Commission and the aviation sector.
Speaking on the 3FM’s evening show “Hot Edition” Dr. Botah said, “We should be firing people at the port. We should be firing people today from the police service. We should be firing people today from Narcotics Control Commission itself. We should be firing people from the aviation sector today,” he said.
His comments come amid ongoing investigations into recent narcotics trafficking cases linked to Ghana, including the alleged shipment of nearly four tonnes of suspected cocaine from Ghana to France.
By Richard Bright Addo
