Germany helps Ghana fight drug menace

Accra, Dec. 13, GNA - Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of the Interior, on Tuesday said the Government was determined to improve upon the functions of the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) to make it more effective to fight the drug menace plaguing the country.

He said narcotic drugs posed a great threat not only to the country but also to the world and if it was not checked it could hamper the image as well as the inroads of development chalked in the country. Mr Kan-Dapaah made the remark when Mr Peter Linder, German Ambassador, presented IT office equipment to the Narcotic Control Board.

The equipment, which included photo copier machines; printer; scanner; digital camera and desk top computer valued at 16,000 Euros, is to support NACOB in fulfilling its difficult and challenging task of controlling the emerging drug problem.

Mr Kan-Dapaah, who received the donation on behalf of NACOB and his Ministry, expressed his appreciation to Germany and said the equipment arrived at the time they were much needed.

He also announced that the Government had taken bold initiatives to fight the drug menace including the introduction of Anti-Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Bills that would make it difficult for those who sought to use Ghana as a transit point for drug trafficking. Mr Kan-Dapaah said the country would continue to work with the global community to ensure that the negative identification of the country with narcotic drugs was completely erased.

Mr Linder said finding solution to the drug problem had been high on the agenda of German development assistance since 1990 hence the introduction of de velopment oriented drug control programmes to reduce substance abuse.

This, he said, aimed at the reduction of drug plants by promoting alternative cash crops cultivation thereby limiting the individual and social impacts of drug production, trade and consumption. "Germany aims at supporting partner countries in the development of infrastructure to prevent and to treat drug abuse and in the creation of harm reduction measures", he said.

Mr Linder observed that Ghana was gaining importance as a transit hub in the shipment of cocaine from around the world, thus German's assistance to intensify its collaboration with the specialized agencies of Ghana to strengthen their capacity to combat the trading in illicit drugs.

He wished that the IT office equipment presented to NACOB would be of help in curbing the current drug menace in the country.