Cocaine seizure: Focus on Ghana’s reputation, not partisan blame – Osae-Kwapong

A fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr John Osae-Kwapong, has urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to move away from blaming successive governments over the recent cocaine seizure linked to Ghana.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 26, he said the focus should instead be on addressing the case, protecting Ghana’s international reputation and building a bipartisan response to the concerns it has raised.

Dr Osae-Kwapong said turning the matter into a contest over which political party or administration should be held responsible could distract from the more important questions surrounding the case.

“For me, what matters is if we can move away from this comparison of who performs well or who is facilitating this as a government or as a party and who is not, to what are the real questions at stake and what is it doing to the image of the country, and can we find some bipartisan consensus in building the way forward so that ultimately it is the image of the country that is protected,” he said.

His comments follow the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine by French customs at the port of Dunkirk. The drugs were found in a container shipped from Ghana, raising questions about how the consignment passed through the country’s export controls.

The Minority in Parliament has called for a parliamentary probe into the cocaine busts, saying they raise serious national security concerns.

Concerns over parliamentary probe

Dr Osae-Kwapong, however, expressed reservations about whether another parliamentary inquiry would produce meaningful results, citing concerns over the outcomes of previous investigations.

“I share the concern that issues come up, and quote unquote nothing comes up, institutions like our Parliament took a look at it, and nothing seems to come out of it, and therefore when you hear that Parliament wants to take a look at another institution, your natural response will be nothing different will come out of it,” he said.

He said the priority should be to identify the real weaknesses exposed by the recent developments and build consensus around measures that can protect Ghana’s reputation and prevent similar incidents.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.