Cocaine Bust: Scrap Ghana-Colombia shipping deal - Ntim Fordjour

Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, John Ntim Fordjour, has called on the government to immediately cancel Ghana’s maritime shipping agreement with Colombia.

Fordjour raised concerns over the security implications of establishing a direct shipping route between Ghana’s Port of Tema and Colombia’s Port of Cartagena, particularly in relation to the trafficking of illicit drugs.

According to a report by adomonline.com on October 1, 2026, Fordjour cited a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which identifies Colombia, alongside Brazil, as a major source of cocaine trafficking and estimates that Colombia produces about 70 per cent of the world’s cocaine.

He questioned the basis for Cabinet’s decision to approve an agreement involving the Port of Cartagena, which he said is known as a major route for the shipment of illicit drugs.

“What was the basis of the government’s decision to sign that agreement? We know our borders are porous and the security agencies have not been well resourced. So why would we do this? The government knows what they are doing,” he said.

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Fordjour said the agreement would allow direct shipments between Ghana and Cartagena without passing through traditional transit points such as Belgium or France, raising concerns about Ghana’s capacity to effectively monitor such shipments.

His comments are in regard to the maritime shipping agreement Ghana and Colombia entered into in March 2026 to establish a direct shipping route between the Ghana’s Port at Tema and the Port of Cartagena.

Government officials described the shipping corridor as an opportunity to deepen economic ties between Africa and Latin America and transform the Atlantic into a channel for economic growth, job creation and shared prosperity.

However, Ntim Fordjour has questioned the economic justification for the agreement, arguing that Colombia is not a major source of goods that Ghana requires in large volumes compared with countries such as China.

MRA/VPO

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