Dr. Ennin: Police must be trained to prosecute drug barons

A security analyst has attributed the poor training and lack of prosecutorial experience by the police service for the increasing number of drug suspects being set free for lack of evidence.

Dr. Kwesi Ennin at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre, also called for an effective coordination and investigation by all institutions tasked with the responsibility of gathering evidence for the prosecution of suspected drug barons.

His comments come in the wake of the discharge and acquittal by an Accra Fast Track High Court of a 50-year-old businessman, Emmanuel Kwesi Darkey who was alleged to have been arrested with cocaine concealed in cans labeled as palm nut soup base.

He was in custody for a year, but the judge on the case said the police had failed to prove a case against him.

Several other suspected drug dealers have been set free for lack of evidence.

But in an interview with JOY FM's Matilda Asante on Tuesday, Dr. Ennin said the phenomenon is worrying, and called on the overhaul of the entire legal system.

While conceding the bench could be infiltrated by the powerful drug barons, he said the prosecution sometimes fails to conduct thorough investigations into drug allegations.

He said the drug barons always have the ability to hire the best of lawyers to their defence and called on the state to provide better training for the police to ensure that the state wins its cases.

Author: Nathan Gadugah