They should have Ghana first – Ntim Fordjour warns MPs against politicising drug crisis

The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev Ntim Fordjour, has warned MPs against allowing partisan politics to overshadow Ghana’s growing drug trafficking crisis. The Assin South MP says Parliament’s response must be driven by the national interest as the country faces a series of major narcotics seizures linked to Ghana. “They should come and not make it politics. They should have Ghana first, constituency first,” he said on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday. His comments come amid growing concern over Ghana’s links to major international drug seizures. French customs intercepted nearly 3. 9 tonnes of cocaine at Dunkirk on September 10. The consignment, concealed in a container of plastic waste, had arrived from Ghana. Four Ghanaians have since been arraigned before the Accra High Court. A fifth suspect, Dutch national Jos Leijdekkers, remains at large.

The latest seizure has added to a series of narcotics cases linked to Ghana. More than 40 MPs have cited seizures linked to Ghana, worth more than US$1 billion, over the past two years in their petition to recall Parliament. The Minority has invoked Article 112(3) of the Constitution and the relevant Standing Orders to demand an emergency parliamentary sitting. Fordjour said MPs must approach the issue as a national security matter. “All these drugs when they come in, not all go out. A lot will be retained here. It’s your children, your youth, and then people who will be consumed and be destroyed by it,” he said. He also warned of wider security implications, linking drug trafficking to money laundering and terrorism. “And the latter implication, security implication here is that, and like I pointed out, wherever there is drugs, there is money laundering, and wherever there is money laundering,…