Nana Addo’s position on fighting drugs: Wikileaks bares it all

Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo–Addo, Flagbearer of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), during conversations with American diplomats in 2008, stressed his abhorrence of the illicit drug trafficking and his insatiable quest to fight the social menace as well as his unflinching desire to see to the perpetuation of democratic practices in modern Ghana.

When voted as the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo Addo indicated his readiness to commit resources to those entities such as the Police, Narcotics Control Board, Ghana Navy and Defense and their allies to motivate them to drastically reduce the illicit trade.

A onetime Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Nana Addo while in office never wavered on his stance in the diplomatic circles especially on matters relating to neighbouring Ivory Coast.

These were contained in a recently released Wikileaks Report.

Capturing classified information produced by then US Ambassador to Ghana Pamela E. Bridgewater, of a conversation she had with Nana Addo, Wikileaks published thus “The entire West Africa region is plagued by the menace of narcotics trafficking and growing use of drugs, Akufo-Addo admitted. The easy money that traffickers and their bag men and women gain is practically an unbeatable enticement for unemployed youth and disaffected members of the population.

Ghana must commit resources to those entities such as the Police, Narcotics Control Board, Ghana Navy and Defense Department and Immigration to get the "King Pins" and bring them to book, and he would insure this if elected.

Educating the public, particularly the youth, about the ills of drug use must also be a priority. He admitted that the lure of easy money is a hard barrier to overcome, particularly when forty per cent of the population continue to live on less than one U.S. dollar per day and there are few structures in place to track and trace drug transactions.

(Comment: I informed Akufo-Addo that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration would be setting up an office soon in Accra.”

On his desire to improve on Ghana’s democracy Wikileaks wrote: “Ghana must entrench and strengthen its democratic institutions to demonstrate to the world that there is at least one African country that will not fall into chaos and violent upheaval if one party does not win an election. Nana was confident that regardless of who wins, Ghanaians would not, repeat not, allow a Kenya post election scenario to replay here. "We value peace and security too much, he insisted." Ghana can and will be the showpiece for the African continent, and that is Akufo-Addo's greatest desire, and what he will work hardest to achieve if elected President”.

Touching on a failed meeting with then Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo which sought to settle the impasse between him(President Gbagbo) Soro, Konan Bedie and Alassane Ouattara, Ambassador Mary C. Yates wrote of Nana Addo in Wikileaks

“Ambassador Yate and polchief met with Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo at his request on June 2. Akufo-Addo told Ambassador Yates that a meeting scheduled for June 3 in Abuja, consisting of Presidents Kufuor, Obasanjo and Gbagbo, Prime Minister Diarra, and ECOWAS Executive Secretary Ibn Chambas, to discuss the political impasse in Cote d'Ivoire, had just fallen through. Gbagbo had initially agreed to the meeting, said Akufo-Addo, but had just bowed out due to a claimed "invitation" to travel immediately to Washington for undisclosed meetings.

Akufo-Addo asked if the USG had issued any invitation to Gbagbo. "We want to know if Gbagbo is playing games with us," said Akufo-Addo. Ambassador Yates said she was unaware of any invitation from the USG but would verify that with the Department. When Ambassador Yates theorized that perhaps Gbagbo perhaps had meetings arranged with the UN in New York, Akufo-Addo said that "Kofi Annan knows about the meeting and wants Gbagbo there (in Abuja)."

“In commenting briefly on the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, Akufo-Addo said that "Gbagbo must reach an accommodation with Soro, Bedie and Ouattara."

There was, he said, "no other option." He further commented that the Linas-Marcoussis Accords (LMA) would not be subject to any "review or renegotiation." While isolated "looks" at specific provisions to "enhance implementation" was possible, there was no interest within ECOWAS, he said, for any "opening up" of the LMA. "There will be no LMA-2," he said, it continued.