Majority blames NACOC funding gaps and 2018 port changes amid cocaine

Parliament’s Majority has blamed years of inadequate funding and staffing at the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) for weaknesses in Ghana’s response to drug trafficking, as a major cocaine seizure renews scrutiny of security at the country’s ports.

Majority Leader James Agalga also criticised a 2018 decision that ended the agency’s participation in routine joint physical inspections of containers at Tema Port. He described the change as a blind spot in port security, but a former government official has questioned whether there is evidence linking it to recent trafficking cases.

The dispute follows the interception by French authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the Port of Dunkirk in a container that had departed Ghana. Investigations are under way in Ghana, and President John Dramani Mahama has directed security agencies to develop a plan to prevent narcotics trafficking through the country’s borders.

Speaking to journalists in Parliament, Mr Agalga, who chairs Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, accused the Akufo-Addo administration of failing to give NACOC the resources and staff needed to confront increasingly sophisticated traffickers.

“The public must be informed of the extent of institutional neglect that preceded 2025,” he said, arguing that this was necessary to assess the current government’s response.

Mr Agalga said a decision taken in 2018 had lasting consequences for Ghana’s ability to inspect containers at Tema Port. The reforms reduced the number of agencies involved in routine physical inspections.

Former Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has disputed descriptions of the change as NACOC’s removal from the port. He said its officers remained there but no longer took part in routine physical inspections.

According to Mr Nitiwul, the aim was to reduce delays and bureaucracy caused by multiple agencies examining the same containers.

A former government official, Kofi Brako-Powers, has also argued that no data has yet established a causal link between the 2018 decision and the recent high-profile seizures. The material provided contains no inspection records or trafficking data that would settle that question.

The government has announced that NACOC will return to the joint container inspection process at Ghana’s ports. Security and regulatory agencies have also been directed to coordinate their operations.

The debate may intensify when Parliament sits on September 29. The sitting follows a petition by 48 MPs seeking an extraordinary session to examine major narcotics seizures linked to Ghana, although the Speaker’s recall notice does not specify the business Parliament will consider.