General News of Tuesday, 30 November 1999
Source: Ghanaian Chronicle
"Ghana rated No.1 in Drug Trafficking" - Prof Addy
By Emelia Gifty Appoh, GIJ Intern
Accra - Ghana has become number one among African countries in narcotic drugs
trafficking. This was disclosed by the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports,
Professor Patrick Addy, at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on
"eradicating streetism in the next millennium"
Prof. Addy said many Ghanaians have become so money-minded and grossly materialistic
that they behave as if our main objective in life is money.
Because of this people have resorted to bad modes of acquisition of wealth such that
scores of Ghanaians export or attempt to export Indian hemp.
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The drug menace that has tarnished the image of our country from the days of the
Rawlings NDC rule to the present Mahama administration should be tackled without
political grandstanding because when people ask you where you are from, you don't
reply NDC Ghana or NPP Ghana, we all get the same tarnished image and therefore our
Politicians especially the NPP and NDC Politicians should stop blaming each other
as having made
Ghana the number drug country in Africa, Ghana was
As you readers can see from the above, Ghana was rated number one drug trafficking
country long before NPP came to power in January 2001. Long before Amoateng, an NPP
member of Parliament from Nkoranza was busted in USA in 2004 trafficking in drugs,
an NDC diplomat by name of Frank Benneh dealt drugs on behalf of NDC and its just
sad NPP has allowed the NDC to take the moral highground when it comes to drug
smuggling and its use. BELOW are some snippets of Frank Benneh's drug case that
damaged the reputation of Ghana in the International community when he used his
diplomatic Passport as security to procure drugs which he dealt on NDC behalf to
purchase weapons for the NDC Militia that were used to silence political
opponents by the 64th battalion led by the present National Security Capo, Col(rtd)
Larry Gbevlo Lartey
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General News of Monday, 12 February 1996
DIPLOMAT CHARGED WITH POSSESSING NARCOTICS
"Frank Benneh, a diplomat attached to Ghana's Permanent Mission at the United
Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, was today arraigned at an Accra Circuit Tribunal on
charges of possessing, trafficking, smoking and dealing in narcotic drugs.
The prosecution added that as the offences took place in Geneva and accused was
arrested by Swiss Police and deported to Ghana, Interpol in Switzerland has been
contacted to provide the police with a full report on the accused for further
action.
Mr Sarpong said on January 18, the Swiss Police arrested two drug addicts and during
a search of their apartment, the diplomatic passport of the accused was found with
them. The addicts, Oxbora Tunc, a Swiss, and Lucas Bartaiha, a Portuguese, according
to the prosecution, admitted that apart from purchasing five grammes of cocaine from
the accused, they also retailed 20 grammes of the drug on his behalf.
Mr Sarpong said the accused who left his diplomatic passport with the addicts as a
surety for the payment of heroin, told the Swiss Police that he was having an affair
with a woman who lived in Paris, and that the woman supplied him with cocaine. The
prosecution said as the diplomatic immunity of the accused could not be waived for
him to stand trial in Geneva, the head of Ghana's Narcotics Control Board was
despatched to Switzerland to bring him down to face trial.
The case which has been captioned the "Big Diplomatic Scandal" by some of the
private papers hit the newstands last week. Some of the papers alleged that Benneh,
younger brother to the respected Professor George Benneh, Vice Chancellor of the
University of Ghana, was running the drugs to buy arms for the NDC controlled
militia.
"Chronicle" further alleged that because of government's complicity in the scandal,
Benneh was being housed at the Liberty Court Hotel, at the tax payers expense, and
was later to be moved into state lodgings instead of being sent to the Police"
You can call this whatever you want, equalizaqtion or whatever but I will call it
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT.
Since the inception of the 1992 constitution, there has not been any government that
has not been scandalized by this drug menace and the recent drug bust at Heathrow
Airport in London should be a concern to all Ghanaians whether NDC, NPP, CPP, NDP,
PPP or whatever because those of us who travel in and out of our bases abroad to
Ghana go through hassles and demeaning searches because of where we come from. This
is not the time for the General Secretaries of the two biggest Parties in Ghana to
resort to this childish play as to which Party has a right to talk about the drug
problem or not.. Asiedu Nketiah calling Sir John of NPP as a “concert man” to wit a
joker is ridiculous when this former Palmwine Tapper look and sound like a sorry
Comedian.
Folks, Ghana was made Africa number one drug country during Rawlings NDC rule and we
are still fighting to get rid of that tag and large consignment of drugs that passed
through Kotoka without detection is not helping our cause. I am rather surprised the
owner of owners of drugs are still incognito despite the fact that, an invoice was
filled showing what the goods were and the owners of the goods and where the
consignment was going to, this should not be hard to find out so why is the
government mum on this information? "ASEM BEBA DABI"
Justice Sarpong
Houston, Texas
(CARDINAL of TRUTH)
