McDermott saga: Spare Wampah flak – Aning

Security analyst Dr Kwesi Aning has said Ghanaians should direct their queries on the McDermott saga to heads of the relevant institutions who failed to conduct the necessary checks on the alleged British drug suspect, who relocated to Ghana and got married to the West African country’s central bank governor.

Some critics are demanding the resignation of Dr Kofi Wampah, since they argue that he should have known his son-in-law was a wanted drug lord and handed him over to the law enforcement agencies.

David McDermott had been living in Ghana for three years as a free man until his recent arrest.

McDermott, 42, from Ormskirk, a target in Operation Captura collaboration between British and Spanish authorities to track down Britain’s most wanted fugitives in Spain – was arrested during a joint operation involving officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK and the Ghanaian Bureau of National Investigations on Friday March 11, in Accra.

Mr McDermott is suspected to have been a member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group, involved in a conspiracy to import and supply cocaine, which was seized from a container of frozen Argentinian beef in May 2013 at Tilbury Docks. He is also wanted for conspiracy to blackmail.

He was in possession of a Ghanaian passport with the name David Smith when he was arrested.

Speaking with Chief Jerry Forson on Accra100.5FM’s morning show, Ghana Yensom, Dr Aning stated that questions will have to be asked of institutions that failed to track the movement of Mr McDermott.

“McDermott is a drug lord, who has escaped from the UK. We know that when such a suspect flees, there will be an alert to the UK anti-drugs department and also to Interpol.

“Did they [police in Ghana] ever get an alert from Interpol? And if they did, when did they get it?”

He said the heads of certain specific institutions must be made to answer certain questions. ‘When did McDermott enter Ghana?’ Then you call the Passport boss and ask him: ‘When was his passport issued?’ Then, ask His Excellency Jon Benjamin (the British High Commissioner to Ghana) if he knows if an alert was issued for the arrest of McDermott and if it was, when was it issued, and all that?’

“Once more, if the answers to these fit a certain pattern, then it relates to institutional failure once again. So, it’s not about having Act 526 of 1996, it’s not about having a Spy Bill, it’s about having the competent people, round pegs in round holes, and square pegs in square holes to protect this country.

“And McDermott’s ability to stay here three years undercover raises fundamental issues. So, let’s put Dr Wampah out of this equation. There are other questions that can be raised, but let’s put Dr Wampah out, and let’s focus on possible institutional failures in this country that allowed this man to enter, allowed him to stay, get a Ghanaian passport, and to claim he was in the mining industry [as it] raises fundamental questions.”