Fight Against Illicit Drug Trade: Ghana to toughen laws

The Government of Ghana is set to present an amended bill of the country’s current legislation on drug enforcement to Parliament for consideration.

The amended bill which is being worked on by the Attorney-General when presented to Parliament and approved, would tighten the noose on illicit drug trading in the West African country.

The bill is seeking to restructure the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), the institution mandated to deal with illicit drug trading, into a Commission to make it autonomous and independent in the performance of its functions.

NACOB is currently bedeviled with lack of state-of-the-art equipment; inadequate office accommodation; lack of a National Drug Rehabilitation Centre and lack of operational vehicles as well as inadequate budgetary allocation among others.

These stumbling blocks, Kasapafmonline.com learnt, are affecting the smooth operations of the drug enforcement unit of the former British Colony.

Deputy Minister for the Interior, James Agalga, who announced this on the floor of the legislature Friday said although NACOB is operating in all the ten regions of Ghana, it had no offices of its own.

“This is seriously affecting operations at the Regional Offices,” he told a half packed parliament this week.

He could not give the exact time that amended bill which is currently in a draft form will be presented to Parliament for consideration and subsequent approval except to say that “a lot of work has been done on the draft bill and will soon be laid in Parliament.”

He said once the bill is approved and NACOB is transformed into a Commission, illicit drug trade would drastically be dealt with..