Political commentator Kofi Bentil the government in power must take responsibility for understanding why Ghana has become vulnerable to large-scale drug trafficking.
The Vice President of IMANI Africa said he was not raising the issue simply to attack the government, but argued that the administration in office has a responsibility to investigate the conditions allowing the reported drug activity to occur.
Speaking on KeyPoint on TV3, Bentil said the country appeared to be experiencing a period in which large quantities of drugs were moving through its systems.
“We should be worried that it seems we are in a season where you’re having tonnes of drugs flowing around,” he said.
He questioned what had created the conditions for the increase.
“What is creating that season? Which rain is falling to make these things sprout in these massive quantities?” he asked.
Bentil said the issue would eventually have political implications because the government is responsible for the security systems operating in the country.
“We all have to ask our leaders what is going on,” he said.
However, he stressed that his argument was not intended simply as an attack on the government.
“But I really don’t intend to use this as a bashing thing against the government,” he said.
His concern, he explained, was that the government must understand and address whatever has created the current environment.
“But the government in authority must take responsibility and deal with this. And figure out what is causing this environment,” he said.
Bentil also raised concern about what he described as a possible signalling effect, where people involved in criminal activity may believe that the prevailing environment allows them to operate.
“Leaders can give permission without saying anything,” he said.
He questioned how a person based in Sierra Leone could allegedly use Ghana as a route for large-scale drug trafficking.
“How does a young man sit in Sierra Leone and compromise the whole Ghanaian system?” he asked.
He said the matter should be taken up at the national level and, where appropriate, with the authorities in Sierra Leone.
“If you are in Sierra Leone, pass it through Sierra Leone, let it be your problem. But I resent the fact that my country is being used as this,” he said.
Bentil warned that the consequences could extend beyond drug seizures if the country fails to address the wider ecosystem.
“When you mix drugs and the drug ecosystem with the galamsey fight that we have lost, you have the lethal combination,” he said.
He added that the combination of drug trafficking and armed groups could create serious security and social consequences.
“And the next step in that is a total social collapse,” he said.
Bentil concluded by calling for the issue to be treated as a systemic problem rather than a partisan dispute.
“This is systemic failure. Let us look at it and figure out a way to solve it,” he said.
