Member of Parliament for Akuapem North Sammi Awuku has questioned the decision to invite heads of key security, transport, and aviation agencies to President John Mahama’s scheduled meeting on Ghana’s border controls without the ministers directly responsible for those institutions.
His reaction comes hours after details emerged of a high-level meeting President Mahama has convened at Jubilee House on Thursday, September 17, to review Ghana’s border-control systems and strengthen measures against narcotics trafficking.
In a Facebook post on Monday, September 14, the Akuapem North MP questioned why the heads of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Ghana Shippers Authority, and Ghana Airports Company Limited are expected to attend the meeting without the Minister for Transport.
He raised a similar concern about the participation of the Ghana Police Service and the Narcotics Control Commission without the Minister for the Interior.
“I am wondering if these state institutions now operate without their respective ministers,” Awuku wrote.
He argued that the growing concern over Ghana’s alleged use as a transit point for illicit drugs requires a substantive government response rather than what he described as an “optics exercise.”
The MP also questioned who would be responsible for overseeing and implementing decisions reached at the meeting if the ministers with direct responsibility for the participating institutions were not present.
“After this meeting, who exactly is expected to supervise and drive the implementation of the decisions reached?” he asked, warning that the arrangement could create another layer of coordination without adequately involving the ministers responsible for the relevant sectors.
Awuku’s comments follow the seizure by French customs authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine from a container shipped from Ghana. The consignment is estimated to have a street value of about US$260 million.
President Mahama’s September 17 meeting is expected to bring together the heads of institutions involved in port operations, maritime security, intelligence, law enforcement, and aviation.
Among the institutions invited are the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Shippers Authority, Ghana Maritime Authority, Ghana Navy, Meridian Port Services Limited, National Intelligence Bureau, Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, Narcotics Control Commission, and Ghana Airports Company Limited.
The participating institutions have been asked to assess existing security gaps and propose measures to improve intelligence sharing, surveillance, screening, and joint enforcement operations.
