Ntim Fordjour reacts to Speaker's decision to block cocaine inquiry

Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev John Ntim Fordjour, has questioned the decision by Speaker Alban Bagbin to reject the Minority’s motion seeking a parliamentary inquiry into recent cocaine seizures linked to Ghana.

The Assin South MP said the decision to block the proposed inquiry raises questions about whether there is an attempt to conceal information and protect individuals or groups allegedly involved in the illicit drug trade.

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“For Speaker and Majority to gag and to block this inquiry, it tells us there is something they are hiding, and they want to keep protecting the drug cartels that the Global Organised Crime Index have alleged,” he said.

His comments followed an emergency sitting of Parliament on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, during which Speaker Bagbin ruled the Minority’s motion seeking the establishment of an ad hoc committee to investigate recent narcotics seizures inadmissible.

The proposed inquiry was intended to examine how major consignments of cocaine were processed, inspected, cleared and exported from Ghana.

Speaking on Joy News, Rev Ntim Fordjour argued that the Speaker’s ruling reinforced concerns contained in the 2025 Global Organised Crime Index regarding alleged political protection for drug trafficking networks in Ghana.

“The fact that the Speaker of Parliament and the Majority NDC gagged this inquiry goes to corroborate the point that the Global Organised Crime Index have put up, and they have alleged that persons and groups peddling drugs and trafficking cocaine in Ghana receive political protection,” he said. The 2025 Global Organised Crime Index reports that Ghanaian organised crime groups have become significant players in the global cocaine trade.

It also cites concerns from law enforcement officials and civil society stakeholders that declining drug seizures and reduced media coverage could be linked to political protection of illicit markets.

Rev Ntim Fordjour maintained that if the concerns raised about cocaine trafficking and political protection were unfounded, Parliament should have allowed a bipartisan investigation to establish the facts.

He questioned why the proposed inquiry should be blocked if there was nothing to conceal.

The Minority spokesperson also said the call for an investigation had received support from organisations including the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Christian Council of Ghana and other civil society groups.

Rev Ntim Fordjour has previously called for a full-scale investigation into recent cocaine seizures, particularly how the consignments allegedly passed through Ghana’s export, inspection and security systems.

NA/VPO

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