Cocaine scandal: focus on substance, not politics; Ace Ankomah tells gov't

Private legal practitioner, Ace Ankomah, says government's overly enthusiastic attempt to distance itself from the latest cocaine scandal could be counter-productive.

He said the rush and uncoordinated responses by government communicators and officials could create a leeway for the perpetrators of the crime to escape justice.

He was speaking to Joy FM's Super Morning Show host, Kojo Yankson, on the arrest of a Ghanaian/Austrian by security officials at Heathrow Airport with 12.5 kilos of cocaine in a manner that has embarrassed the nation.

Nayele Ametefeh is currently in detention, but her arrest has put the discussion of drugs back onto the front burner with politicians tagging each other.

Government officials and security agencies are tripping over each other to prove that officialdom had nothing to with the cocaine haulage, with some contradictions emerging in the process.

Foreign Minister, Hannah Tetteh, Tuesday told Accra-based Radio Gold that Nayele Ametefeh had told Ghanaian consular officials that she used the VIP Lounge at the Kotoka International Airport to exit the country.

Later the Attorney-General proferred charges of abetment against some three persons in connection with the case.

Stating the brief facts of the case, the A-G said one of the three, Abiel Ashitey Armah, a foreign officer in charge of the VVIP Lounge at the Kotoka International Airport, facilitated the passage of Nayele Ametefeh through the VVIP Lounge.

Commenting on the contradiction, Mr. Ankomah said, “The minute we begin to put out information that is uncoordinated, we create room and fodder for people who may have committed crimes to escape.”

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