President John Dramani Mahama will hold a high-level meeting with the security, aviation, and port sectors on Thursday, September 17, to check weak spots in Ghana’s border checks and find ways to stop drug smugglers.
The meeting which will be held at Jubilee House, follows the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine, worth an estimated $261 million, by French customs officials from a container shipped out of Ghana.
According to a report by Citifmonline, an invitation from the Secretary to the President, Callistus Mahama, stated that the meeting will look at weaknesses in the country’s border-control systems and identify steps to prevent trafficking in narcotics and other illicit substances.
Participating institutions have been asked to send their heads, along with one technical officer, and to come prepared with brief assessments of existing security gaps, along with proposals to strengthen intelligence sharing, surveillance, screening and joint enforcement.
The move comes after the Minority raised concerns over how Ghana has handled recent high-profile drug seizures, with Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, questioning the absence of high-profile arrests and prosecutions in such cases.
Institutions expected at the meeting include the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, terminal scanner operators, Ghana Link Network Services, the Ghana Maritime Authority, the Ghana Navy, Meridian Port Services, the National Intelligence Bureau, the Police CID and Interpol desk, the Narcotics Control Commission, and the Ghana Airports Company.
