Minority: Government Must Explain Why Traffickers Keep Exploiting Ghana’s Ports

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The Minority in Parliament has demanded that the NDC government explain why international drug traffickers keep exploiting Ghana’s ports and trade routes. Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin made the demand at the Leaders’ press briefing in Parliament on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

He pointed to a run of seizures abroad linked to Ghana, from timber in Amsterdam to plastic waste in Dunkirk and a passenger’s luggage in Beirut. The Minority wants the House to take up its motion for an inquiry so that ministers must answer for the failures that may have let the drugs through.

“When substantial quantities of illegal drugs move through our commercial channels and are intercepted abroad, ministers owe this country more than statements announcing investigations.”

Hon Afenyo-Markin set out the record. In June 2025, Dutch authorities intercepted almost 4,500 kilogrammes of cocaine hidden in timber from a company in Ghana, which Dutch prosecutors described as the largest cocaine seizure in the history of the Amsterdam port.

In November 2025, Belgian authorities seized 2,829 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in cassava flour. In April 2026, Australian authorities flagged two containers from Ghana that purportedly carried charcoal, and the resulting investigation concerned 320 kilogrammes of methamphetamine.

In September, French authorities found 3.9 tonnes of cocaine in plastic waste from Ghana at Dunkirk. Lebanese authorities then reported 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine carried by a passenger arriving from Accra.

He summed up the pattern: timber, cassava flour, charcoal, plastic waste and now passenger luggage. The concealments and destinations differ, he noted, but the links to Ghana repeat.

The Minority leader listed what the government must explain. How were the consignments processed and cleared? What happened during inspection and scanning? Where did the safeguards fail, and what changed after each discovery?

“Why does it take a seizure abroad to trigger explanation at home?” Hon. Afenyo-Markin acknowledged the officers who have intercepted drugs and pursued traffickers and stated that their work deserves support.

Their effort, he argued, cannot excuse failures of supervision, coordination and political leadership. Where serious negligence is established, he asked, why are those responsible still in office, and why have they not been dismissed or forced to resign?

An arrest is not a conviction, he conceded, but a pending trial does not suspend administrative accountability. He added that the government can examine supervisory failures and take lawful disciplinary action without prejudicing anyone’s guilt. The President is responsible for securing Ghana’s borders, he insisted, and must answer for the poor performance so far.

He conceded that Ghana was not free of drug smuggling under earlier governments. That history offers no excuse for present failures, he argued.

The Minority leader asked whether traffickers increasingly treat Ghana as a safe haven. The seizures alone cannot show why networks choose particular routes, he acknowledged, but they demand answers about the confidence with which those networks seem to use Ghana-linked commerce.

Do they believe inspections can be evaded, institutions manipulated or officials compromised? He promised that the Minority will not accept complacency while those questions stay open.

Hon. Afenyo-Markin also pointed to damage that receives little attention. Each major seizure tied to Ghana weakens confidence in its export controls, he argued, and honest exporters, shipping companies, airlines and passengers carry the burden of the suspicion criminals create.

Cargo from Ghana may face closer examination, he explained, and vessels may meet tighter scrutiny of manifests and supply chains. Passengers leaving Ghana may face more questioning and baggage searches.

He stressed that these consequences are not automatic and that the Minority does not claim any blanket restrictions exist. The commercial risk is still clear, he stated, since extra inspections can mean delays, missed connections, storage charges and higher compliance costs.

The Minority also took note of a statement from the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) on November 1 on the Beirut seizure.

Hon. Afenyo-Markin observed that the statement from Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, as reported, praises coordination and information sharing between two Lebanese agencies. Neither account expressly acknowledges Ghana’s participation, he noted.

He asked why NACOC claims joint operational credit when the Lebanese public account does not cite Ghana’s role. He allowed that agencies may withhold operational details, and that the absence of a mention does not prove cooperation never happened. NACOC has still made a specific claim, he insisted, and “it must be able to substantiate it.”

Hon. Afenyo-Markin tied these questions to the Minority’s stalled motion. The Minority filed the motion in September, and the Speaker dismissed it. The Minority vowed to keep pushing, while Hon. Agalga credited a surge in busts to the NDC’s strategic measures.

The Minority leader closed with a pledge to press on. The ports must serve legitimate commerce, he argued, and the Minority will pursue the truth and insist on results.

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