NACOC removal is a red herring – Kofi Bentil rejects blame for Ghana’s drug trafficking crisis
by Gabs · MyNewsGh.comKofi Bentil has rejected attempts to make the removal of the Narcotics Control Commission from routine port operations the main explanation for the recent drug trafficking concerns.
Bentil, Vice President of IMANI Africa, said the focus should instead be on whether the institutions currently responsible for security and inspection are doing their jobs.
He made the argument while speaking on KeyPoint on TV3, amid debate over the changes to Ghana’s port inspection system.
“Please, NACOC being removed, and that is the problem, look, please, it’s a red herring,” he said.
Bentil said Customs has the legal responsibility to carry out its duties and should be allowed to perform them effectively.
“Customs, Excise and Preventive Service is lawfully, legally mandated to catch tonnes of drugs, and they can do so if they’re allowed to do their work,” he said.
He also defended the earlier reforms that reduced the number of institutions involved in port processes.
According to Bentil, 16 institutions were previously involved before the number was reduced to three, a move he said helped reduce congestion, delays and other problems at the ports.
He said the reforms were intended to make the port system more efficient and were not designed to create an environment for drug trafficking.
“If 13 institutions were removed, and by the way, it helped. It reduced the pressure on the port, the extortion, the delays, the demoralisation, it worked very well,” he said.
Bentil therefore questioned why the current drug problem should automatically be blamed on the earlier port reforms.
He noted that the current drug trafficking concerns emerged months after the reforms had been implemented.
“This drug menace that we are experiencing is a few months old,” he said.
He argued that authorities should instead examine the entire security and intelligence system, including what happens after drugs enter the country.
According to Bentil, the work of drug enforcement agencies should not be limited to waiting at ports for consignments.
“If you look at the drug enforcement agencies across the world, they are active within society. They are busting drugs in people’s homes and that kind of thing,” he said.
He said the focus should be on intelligence, surveillance and tracking drugs after they enter the country, as well as preventing them from leaving through Ghana’s ports.
“NACOC’s job was to make sure the drugs don’t come in. One, they failed. It came in,” he said, while also arguing that authorities should have intelligence to track the drugs once inside the country.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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