NPP wants heads of port and security agencies sacked after Ghana-linked cocaine busts

Pinned summary · as of 16:26

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called for the removal of about nine heads of state agencies it holds responsible for lapses that let cocaine pass through Ghana's ports and borders. Party National Organiser Henry Nana Boakye made the demand at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, 22 September, after a huge cocaine haul was found in a container that left Ghana for France.

What we know

• Speaking for the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye urged the government to dismiss the National Security Coordinator, the Commissioner-General of Customs and the bosses of NACOC, the Maritime Authority, the Shippers' Authority, the Airports Company, the National Intelligence Bureau and the Ports and Harbours Authority.
• Mr Boakye charged that President John Dramani Mahama lacked firm leadership and was pampering the drug trade, arguing that calling a meeting and ordering tighter operations was no substitute for sacking officials.
• Mr Boakye told the press conference that "Ghana has become a cocaine coast", a description the party used to press its case that the government must accept responsibility and find a solution.
• The party also asked for a bipartisan committee to look into the recent narcotics cases. It puts the combined worth of the seizures linked to Ghana since 2025 at over US$1 billion.
• The trigger was a container that left Ghana and was stopped at the Port of Dunkirk in France, where close to four tonnes of cocaine were found. Four people have since been arraigned in Ghana and remanded in connection with that shipment.
• Ten people, among them four officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, are in custody as investigations continue.
• President Mahama has directed an inter-agency task force to draw up measures to stop drug trafficking through Ghana's borders.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Reports differ on the ninth official the NPP wants removed. The Publisher Online lists the Inspector-General of Police, while Onua Online names the head of the Criminal Investigations Department.
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  Onua Online's second report placed the press conference on Monday, 22 September, whereas its other report and The Publisher Online say Tuesday.
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  Mr Boakye alleged that some port and airport staff may have undermined security checks, and that hidden laboratories could be processing narcotics in Ghana. The Vaultz News noted that nobody has independently established these claims, and that security agencies' investigations are expected to clarify the circumstances.
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  The Vaultz News reported that Mr Boakye said intelligence available to the NPP suggests Ghana is becoming a significant transit route for narcotics; no other report carries this claim.
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  Onua Online reported that the President told NACOC to rejoin joint container inspections at the ports, and that the task force has two weeks to submit a roadmap. Other reports have not confirmed these details.
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  The Publisher Online reported that 48 MPs petitioned Speaker Alban Bagbin to recall Parliament from recess, and that the President met agencies on 17 September. It also said no official had been removed when the NPP spoke. None of this was reported elsewhere.
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  According to The Publisher Online, an MP for New Tafo alleged that Musah Atta, a defendant in the Dunkirk case, had served in the presidential security detail. NACOC said preliminary checks found no such link, and its Deputy Director-General, Alexander Twum-Barimah, rejected the suggestion that any defendant was an escort to the President.
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  Onua Online reported that Mr Boakye cited two seizures in Cape Coast and along the Takoradi-Cape Coast highway in March 2025, together weighing about 4.5 tonnes, and alleged that national security operatives were dispatched against MP John Ntim Fordjour once he raised the aircraft issue. These are his claims alone; the government rejected the Minority's earlier allegations about the aircraft.
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  Reacting on TV3, Rashid Tanko Computer of the NDC said the NPP has no moral authority to demand dismissals and that its own record on narcotics cases was worse, including an allegation about cocaine exhibits at police headquarters. The NDC's remarks were reported by Onua Online only.
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  Onua Online also reported new interceptions, including 175 slabs of suspected narcotics at Abofu, 192 wraps at Wa and 866 parcels at Tema Port; no other report confirms them.

Why it matters for Ghana

Ghana's ports, airports and border posts handle the goods that traders and households across Accra, Tema and the regions depend on, so any suggestion that controls have been compromised bears on the country's standing with trading partners. The row also tests how far the government will go in holding agency heads to account while the cases against those in custody move through court. Voters are watching whether Parliament, which the NPP wants involved, takes up a cross-party inquiry.