John Ntim Fordjour urges President Mahama to intensify drug trafficking fight

Rev. Dr. John Ntim Fordjour, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, has called on President John Mahama to take decisive action against the rising tide of narcotics trafficking. The Member of Parliament warned that recent large-scale cocaine seizures linked to Ghana are severely damaging the nation's international reputation and demanded transparency regarding ongoing investigations into what he described as "cocaine flights."

Fordjour highlighted specific incidents that have raised international alarm, including the interception of 2,600 kg of cocaine hidden in coconut shipments in Spain. He alleged that over $3 billion worth of drugs related to Ghana have been seized abroad in recent times. Furthermore, he questioned the security implications of agreements for direct shipments to Colombia, suggesting these routes could be exploited to bypass security protocols under the guise of legal commerce. He urged the President to adopt a zero-tolerance policy and provide updates on all pending investigations to restore Ghana’s standing in the global community.

The MP's concerns have sparked a political backlash, prompting calls for the government to engage more constructively with security critiques. Yaw Opoku Mensah, a spokesperson for Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has demanded a government apology to Fordjour, criticizing what he termed as attempts to discredit the MP rather than investigating his claims. Mensah emphasized that national security should be prioritized over partisan allegiance and that public officials must be able to question government actions without facing intimidation.

This call for action comes amid growing parliamentary pressure on the Mahama administration to secure the country’s borders and trade routes against international drug cartels. The Ranking Member emphasized that decisive executive action is necessary to address the exploitation of Ghana's legal trade infrastructure by narcotics traffickers and to ensure that the country is not viewed as a soft point for international drug smuggling.