Opposition Piles Pressure on Mahama Government Over Ghana's Drug Trafficking Crisis

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has escalated pressure on President John Mahama's government, demanding the removal of heads of key state institutions and accusing the administration of complicity, following the interception of a major cocaine shipment linked to Ghana.

The demands
At a press conference on Tuesday, September 22, NPP National Organiser Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, called for the immediate removal of heads of institutions responsible for Ghana's ports, maritime security, narcotics control, intelligence and customs operations. He named the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Ghana Shippers' Authority among those he wants held accountable.

Boakye rejected President Mahama's decision to instead convene a meeting at Jubilee House and direct security officials to tighten operations, arguing the situation demanded stronger action. "They have relaxed on their duties. They must be sacked," he said. He also called for an independent, bipartisan parliamentary investigation into what he described as 12 narcotics-related cases.

The core allegations
Boakye alleged that Ghana has become a major transit point for illicit drugs, and that this is "not by accident, but because of the complicity of officials at our port and our airports."

He further alleged that clandestine laboratories have been established in Ghana to process narcotics for export, and accused officials of directly assisting drug networks. He linked the pattern to the 2014 case of Nayele Ametefeh, arrested at Heathrow for transporting cocaine from Ghana during Mahama's first administration, saying "we have been here before."

Boakye also invoked the president's economic slogan pointedly: "Mr. President, you promised Ghanaians a 24-hour economy. You did not promise 24-hour cocaine trafficking."

A second NPP voice
NPP General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong added that Mahama should scrutinise his own appointees, saying large cocaine consignments could not pass through the ports and airports without raising questions about oversight.

"There are people in higher authorities behind this," he alleged. He said the party would keep up pressure until the right measures are taken.

What triggered it
The pressure follows French customs' seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of suspected cocaine, valued at about €225 million, at the Port of Dunkirk on September 10, concealed in a container of plastic waste shipped from Ghana.

It also follows an earlier seizure of 866 parcels of suspected cocaine, valued at about $6.9 million, hidden in sacks of gari at Tema Harbour on August 5.

Four people have been charged over the Dunkirk shipment, and six others, including four Customs officers, have also been arraigned.

The government's response so far
President Mahama has directed an inter-agency task force to review Ghana's systems for detecting and preventing drug trafficking at its borders, with two weeks to submit a roadmap of measures.

He has also directed that NACOC be reinstated in joint container inspection operations at the ports.

Calls to depoliticise the issue
Not every voice has echoed the NPP's framing. Some commentators, including MP Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, have called for a united, non-partisan fight against drug trafficking rather than political point-scoring, and the governing NDC has in turn urged the NPP to share any intelligence it holds with the relevant authorities rather than make allegations from a podium.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. (USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

Sources
MyJoyOnline, "NPP demands dismissal of officials over cocaine busts, accuses Mahama of weak leadership," Sept. 22, 2026

MyJoyOnline, "NPP demands immediate removal of institutional heads over cocaine trafficking cases," Sept. 22, 2026

MyJoyOnline, "NPP links resurgence of drug trafficking cases to NDC's return to power," Sept. 22, 2026

MyJoyOnline, "NPP alleges illicit drug-processing laboratories operating at Ghana's main ports," Sept. 22, 2026

MyJoyOnline, "NPP accuses Mahama government of allowing Ghana to become drug transit hub," Sept. 22, 2026

Rainbow Radio Online, "NPP alleges Ghana has become illicit drug transit hub under Mahama," Sept. 22, 2026

Adomonline.com, "Drug busts: Mahama must scrutinise his appointees – Justin Kodua," Sept. 22, 2026

GBC Ghana Online, "NPP demands removal of officials over drug trafficking concerns," Sept. 22, 2026

abcnewsgh, "NPP Demands Removal of NACOC, GMA, Shippers Authority Heads Over Narcotics Cases," Sept. 22, 2026