Cocaine saga Ripples

Immediately after the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) issued its statement claiming that it collaborated with the British authorities in arresting Nayele, the Minister of Communications, Mr Omane Boamah, raised doubts, insisting he did not believe NACOB’s claims. This means he was expecting NACOB to back its statement with further proof. Nobody in government condemned Omane Boamah for questioning NACOB’s claim.

Thankfully, the British High Commission in Accra issued a statement indicating that NACOB didn’t provide any co-operation in the arrest of Ms Ametefeh. One would have thought that this statement would have rather supported Omane Boamah’s assertion or belief, hence an applause would have been given to the British High Commission.

Strangely, a deputy minister,  Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has found the British High Commission’s statement offensive. He says the High Commission’s statement was an attempt to meddle in the politics of Ghana. “The statement was in very bad taste. From where I sit, I see this statement as an attempt by some people sitting at the British High Commission enjoying what is going on, the frenzy over the drug issue and trying to stoke it. It’s so nebulous and ambiguous,” Mr  Ablakwa is quoted as saying on Radio Gold’s “Alhaji and Alhaji” show.

He added that the British High Commission should have come clean with all the facts on the matter, if they were minded to participate in the discussions objectively, but he forgets that the British government has a stake in the arrest of a Ghanaian on its soil.

Doubts about NACOB

Where was Mr Ablakwa when Dr Omane Boamah raised doubts about NACOB’s claim. And, what is fundamentally different from what Dr Omane Boamah was seeking and what the British High Commission provided? Dr  Omane Boamah was seeking evidence, the Commission provided it, what more does Mr Okudzeto want it to do?

Mr Ablakwa wants the High Commission to “come clean with all the facts on the matter”. One thought that the facts of the matter in relation to the efficiency or otherwise of NACOB’s claim were what the High Commission provided. Does he want the Commission to tell Ghanaians why a businessman could ask a director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to escort a cocaine dealer and give her a VIP treatment to board a plane?

This infantile manner in which some of our ministers behave or analyse issues of utmost national and international importance is very worrying. As a Deputy Minister, Mr Ablakwa must know his limit. Why didn’t Madam Hannah Tetteh, the Foreign Minister, condemn the High Commission?

This author had previously called on the ruling NDC to find a better way of handling its communication information management, but it seems the situation gets worse with every new issue which calls for government’s attention. Many government and party officials, on a number of occasions, would rush to make statements without having any serious thoughts about them and end up worsening the government’s case further.

With a mission office in London, the best the government should have done was to get a full and independent update from both the Ghana High Commission in London and the British authorities on Nayele Ametefeh’s arrest before they started talking.

Diplomatic passport

Now, Foreign Minister, Madam Hannah Tetteh, has not been able to tell Ghanaians whether Ametefeh had a  diplomatic passport or not. She says, “since I became Foreign Affairs Minister, I have not authorised the issuance of a diplomatic passport to Nayele Ametefeh, alias Ruby Adu Gyamfi or whatever name she may be using.”

She adds that, “I am the only person who can authorise a diplomatic passport. If any of my staff issues a diplomatic passport from the passport office without my prior authorisation, that essentially means that they have attempted to commit an unlawful act.” This does not provide the needed information to Ghanaians as to whether Ms Ametefeh has or does not have  a Ghanaian diplomatic passport. And I don’t think it is beyond the reach of the foreign minister to get the definite position.

So far, government ministers and communication team members continue to muddy the waters the more, creating more embarrassment to the government. For instance, Ms Tetteh by merely confirming that a businessman contacted Abiel Ashitey Armah, a director at her ministry in charge of the VVIP Lounge,  to assist Ms  Ametefeh to use the VIP lounge to get on the plane creates further problems.

How can any businessman at all ask a director of the Foreign Ministry to facilitate the passage of a cocaine dealer, and the director would dutifully carry out  the instructions? And how come two other foreign ministry staff  members at the VVIP Lounge also carried out the instructions without any questions? Does it mean that has been the trend and the staff members have always been part of the drug export ring? Has Madam Tetteh sought answers to such questions?

Oh, what about this Mr David Agbee man who has suggested that the entire staff of the NACOB be replaced with soldiers to restructure and re-engineer the drug fight, because according to him, soldiers have more integrity than civilians, and are, therefore, less prone to corruption?

There is no doubt that we have some soldiers with high integrity, but at the same time, evidence exists that there are some soldiers who are corrupt. Haven’t  we had military governments in this country before? Didn’t we find corruption under such governments?

I admire our soldiers, but Mr  Agbee, who is said to be the Executive Director of Ghana Institute of Governance and Security, must understand that if he, as a civilian, does not find himself trustworthy and is corruptible, not all civilians are. Both soldiers and civilians can be corrupt, hence we can describe his suggestion a blanket statement as it is not based on any empirical facts. Such statements merely pollute the minds of the public against certain professions.

When issues as serious as the cocaine saga come before the nation, we expect people who call themselves experts to come out with suggestions and ideas based on thoughtful analysis and not mere rhetoric to get media attention. Merely making soldiers fill NACOB would not solve the cocaine problem. Isn’t the chairman of NACOB a retired navy officer of repute; and was he able to prevent the Nayele Ametefeh scandal? The problem is the politicisation of institutions whereby certain people who are not qualified to head certain institutions or work in certain institutions are left there for political expediency.

For instance, the Metropolitan Police in London invited Tony Blair while he was sitting Prime Minister of Britain to its (police) offices and interrogated him for over two hours over Blair’s claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could reach the UK within 45 minutes. That was a functioning state institution and not in our case, when it would even be difficult for the IGP to arrest a district chief executive without him being sacked the next day.

Let’s de-politicise the Nayele Ametefeh cocaine issue and find lasting solutions to the cocaine trade booming in Ghana and tarnishing the image of the country.

The author is a political scientist, media and communication expert. fasado@hotmail.com