Drug Baron Freed Due To Political Conections

Nov 30, (Lens) -- That the Kufuor-led NPP government is unrepentant in their pursuit of their very divisive policy of selectively applying the laws of this country has once again been confirmed with the release of Alex Awua Kyeremanteng, who was arrested by security personnel at the Kotoka International Airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle Cocaine out of the country, from custody.

Alex Awua Kyeremanteng is now a free man walking the streets of Dansoman, where he resides with his mother, Felicia Serwaa Oppong, a deputy Treasurer of the NPP.

Close associates of Awua Kyeremanteng, who spoke to The Lens on condition of anonymity, say when they saw the Daily Graphic report on 19th November 2004 with Alex's picture on the front page, they have always known that he would not remain in custody for too long.

Though his drug dealing activities are widely known, his friends believe that he is too well connected to the political establishment such that there is no way the establishment would risk putting him before court, unless they want to risk having him spill the beans on how he finances the NPP with his ill-gotten wealth with the knowledge and blessings of NPP bigwigs.

While officialdom is tight-lipped on the reasons for which Alex Kyeremanteng has been released from custody, The Lens is reliably informed that the other persons published by the Daily Graphic as having been arrested with Kyeremanteng are still in custody. Drug dealing is one of the few crimes for which the laws of Ghana allow that a person may be refused bail.

Interestingly, until only a few months back, Alex Awua Kyeremanteng was working in the Office of the President at the Castle as one of the Presidential aides. He was only recently reassigned to the Civil Aviation Authority, observers believe, to facilitate his nefarious activities.

Rumours that certain high-ranking NPP officials are neck-deep in the Cocaine business have been making the rounds, and this case certainly appears to give these rumours credibility. NPP MP, Kennedy Adjapong, is one of the NPP high-ranking officials whose name has been associated with Cocaine dealing, which he has always denied anytime the allegation comes up.

Not too long ago, an NPP activist, Red, who was remanded into prison by a court of competent jurisdiction for firing gunshots at a registration centre in Tamale, was released from custody on what can best be described as a political fiat issued by the NPP leadership, without recourse to the courts.

It is noteworthy that at the time that Red did the firing at the registration centre in Tamale, that whole area was under a state of emergency and the mere possession of a firearm was considered a really serious crime, not to talk of brandishing it in public, let alone firing at public places.

To a lot of Dansoman residents, especially persons close to Kyeremanteng and his mother, his release from custody is proof enough that there are two sets of applications of the laws in operation in Ghana; one, the most efficient and strict application of the laws, for none-NPP persons who fall afoul of the law, and two, the more permissive and lax application of the law for NPP officials, agents, and activists.