Don't Act On Cocaine Report Yet -Chief

Ogyeabour Barima Adu Gyamfi Poku, the Paramount Chief of Kuntanase in Ashanti, has appealed to President Kufuor not to rush in implementing the recommendations of the Georgina Wood Committee report.

He warned that any rush in implementing the recommendations, could result in the prosecution of innocent people implicated in the report.

Ogyeabour Gyamfi Poku, 72, who was speaking in an interview with the Times at his residence in Accra on Monday, said, "There is no need to rush in prosecuting people, rather there should be more investigations to find the real culprits."

He said it was important for government to do all humanly possible to trace the whereabouts of the cocaine instead of rushing to prosecute people.

He said that although the cocaine scandal had dented the country’s reputation, there was the need to be circumspect in implementing the committee’s recommendations.

"If we are not careful, we would end up sacking competent people and leaving the real culprits to go scot-free," he said.

Ogyeabour Gyamfi Poku said that even though some of the accused might have acted unprofessionally, there was the need to tamper justice with mercy.

He also appealed to the government to resource the security agencies adequately to enable them to fight the raging drug menace in the country.

"It is only when we have well-resourced security agencies that we can fight crime in this country," he said.