NACOB Boss Must Resign

The NPP UK and Ireland deem it as unscrupulous and disgraceful for the government appointees to use propaganda and deliberate lies to cover up the ineptitudes and failures of the very mandates trusted onto their hands. In fact, how long will President Mills / Mahama’s government ministers and appointees continue to use propaganda and meticulous lies to hide these obvious incompetence and extremely disappointing behaviour to Ghanaians?

The clear example is the recent display of the executive secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) -Yaw Akrasi Sarpong who has been christened today as the new propagandist for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) just to cover up his own failures to fight drug menace throughout Ghana.

The NACOB boss in a recent interview with Joy FM passed innuendo that, “his outfit has ample evidence indicating that some politicians intend to finance their campaign activities in the 2012 general elections with proceeds from narcotics trade”. Since then, Mr Akrasi Sarpong has been insulting and cursing anyone who mentions his new title “Propagandist”. We are stating categorically that this attitude from the NACOB boss has been unfortunate, and also such display of arrogance would not stop us from exposing his outfit’s failures and inabilities to curb the drugs trade in Ghana and throughout Ghana.

It is beyond our imagination to hear the Executive Secretary of the NACOB boss, Akrasi Sarpong say there are no drug barons in Ghana just before the United Nations report on West Africa blacklisting Ghana as a “Money Laundering Country” through the drugs trade, under the direct supervision of President Mills.

On 28th June 2011, the Peaceonline.com carried a United Nation’s report on West Africa with the head line “Cocaine Trade Exacerbates Money Laundering in West Africa”. In the report the United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki Moon, explicitly stated that “The global cocaine trade, which is estimated at 85 million dollars, is exacerbating money laundering in West Africa.

In September 2010, The Director of Legislative Drafting Division at the Attorney-General’s Department of the Ministry of Justice in Ghana, Estelle Matilda Appiah first made an observation that “Ghana to be blacklisted over money laundering”, thus far back in September 2010, when she was delivering a paper on ‘The Impact of Money Laundering on National Security’ at a lecture organised by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.

Mrs Appiah of Attorney –General’s office asserted that “Ghana may be blacklisted for its poor anti-money laundering record if necessary institutional mechanisms and laws are not put in place and enforced to check illicit money from coming into the country”. She called on Prez Mills’s government to show ample commitment to fighting money laundering, as the menace has the potential of creating national security problems, leading to a breakdown of law and order”.

Now, what is Money Laundering? This is a process of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained from serious crimes, such as drug trafficking or terrorist activity, originated from a legitimate source. The surprising thing is - all these dubious trades in Ghana leading to the money laundering activities are happening now under the purview of the NACOB boss Mr Akrasi Sarpong. Should Akrasi Sarpong wait till 2012 election period before arresting his own colleagues? Akrasi Sarpong has failed abysmally and must be sacked.

In April 2010, Mr Akrasi Sarpong was reported to have admitted that ‘Drug Barons are Taken Advantage of Ghana's Loose Borders’ (Peaceonline.con).

The report says “The Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr. Akrasi-Sarpong, says despite efforts by the board to control the drug menace that has bedevilled the country, security at the country's borders are not tight enough in curtailing the increasing rate of drug trafficking”.

In the same month, Thursday, 29 April 2010, the Ghanaian Times reported that “Ten (10) Ghanaians on board an Accra New York flight of Delta Airlines were arrested in March at JFK Airport, New York, for drug related offenses (Cocaine)”. In that report, “the Executive Secretary of NACOB, Yaw Akrasi-Sarpong blamed the officials of Debill Security Services, a US security agency that provides in-flight security for allegedly preventing NACOB officials at the Kotoka International Airport from conducting a search on the passengers as well as their luggage”.

The question is what is the purpose of Akrasi Sarpong in his position as NACOB Boss? Frankly, this threatening indiscretion and negligence with NACOB officials will never be tolerated in any disciplined and competent administration. So, what is President Mills waiting for? That was unpardonable negligence of the Akrasi Sarpong’s outfit.

On Tuesday, 5 October 2010, under the new paper head line ‘NDC Boys Busted over Cocaine’, the report stated that “The Western Regional Police Commander, DCOP Hamidu Mahama has confirmed reports gathered by the Daily Guide newspaper that two suspected narcotic drug dealers have been granted bail upon the intervention of National Democratic Congress (NDC) bigwigs, when the case had not been sent to court. This is also a clear sign that Mr. Akrasi Sarpong’s outfit has been absolutely useless.

The most worrying and unfortunate thing in Ghana is that the old law Professor, Mr. John Evans Atta Mills, who is the president of Ghana, has been tight lipped because he has openly acknowledged that “he fears his Aides Smuggle Drugs”.

WikiLeaks report released on 14th December 2010: “A top British government operative told a U.S. diplomat during the summer of 2009 that the president of Ghana worried about members of his entourage smuggling drugs out of the country. Ghanaian President John Atta Mills told the British that he wanted to buy portable screening devices to check his aides for drugs, the Guardian newspaper of London reported”.

Indisputably, Ghanaians are highly fed up with this continuous display of mediocrity, weakness and incompetency in the NDC – Mills – Mahama’s administration.

We are therefore urging President Mills to show good leadership and an example worth emulating, at least for once, by removing this NACOB boss with immediate effect.

Ghana really deserves better!

Hayford Atta-Krufi

Chairman - NPP UK & Ireland

Communication and Research Committee