Former Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Sammi Awuku, has questioned the absence of sector ministers from a high-level meeting convened by President John Dramani Mahama to address concerns over Ghana’s growing use as a transit point for illicit drugs.
In a Facebook post, Mr Awuku specifically raised concerns about the participation of heads of key state institutions without their supervising ministers.
He questioned why the heads of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Ghana Shippers Authority and Ghana Airports Company Limited, all under the Ministry of Transport, would attend such an important meeting without the Minister for Transport.
He similarly pointed to the presence of the Ghana Police Service and the Narcotics Control Commission, which fall under the Ministry of the Interior, without the minister responsible for the sector.
According to Mr Awuku, the seriousness of Ghana’s drug trafficking concerns requires more than what he described as an “optics exercise.”
He questioned how the decisions taken at the meeting would be supervised and implemented when the ministers with direct responsibility for the institutions involved were not part of the discussions.
“After this meeting, who exactly is expected to supervise and drive the implementation of the decisions reached?” he asked.
Mr Awuku also expressed concern that the approach could create another layer of coordination instead of working through the ministries and structures already mandated to handle such matters.
He urged President Mahama to treat the issue with greater seriousness, stressing the need for clear responsibility and effective coordination in tackling illicit drug trafficking.
“Mr. President, respectfully, please let us take this matter seriously for a moment,” he said, before ending his post with the expression, “Y’abrɛ ooo.”
