In Ghana, lawyer criticizes Mahama's meetings with security officials — MyJoyOnline
In Ghana, Kofi Bentil, vice president of the IMANI Africa think tank and a lawyer, questioned the purpose of President John Dramani Mahama's meetings with security officials after French authorities seized nearly 3.9 tonnes of suspected cocaine linked to Ghana. MyJoyOnline reports.
Bentil said that the first priority should be to establish how a shipment of such scale was able to leave Ghana before it was intercepted by French authorities. In his view, the circumstances of the case raise questions about possible shortcomings in port services and border-control systems.
Shipment intercepted in France
On September 10, French customs seized the shipment at the port of Dunkirk. The suspected cocaine was concealed in a container of plastic waste sent from Ghana. The value of the consignment was estimated at approximately €225 million.
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According to Bentil, the incident cannot be viewed as an isolated failure. He called for determining who was responsible for inspecting and clearing the container, as well as establishing whether responsible officials or systems had made errors in detecting the drugs.
Detentions and authorities' response
A court in Kwabenya denied bail to six defendants in the case, including four customs officers from the Ghana Revenue Authority. They are accused of actions related to cargo-scanning procedures at Tema Port. According to the prosecution, scan images contained anomalies that required additional checks before the containers were cleared.
President Mahama ordered the creation of an interagency task force. It is to develop a plan within two weeks to strengthen measures against drug trafficking across Ghana's borders. According to the outlet, ten people, including four customs officers, are being held in custody as part of the investigation.
