Probe operations of Narcotics Board

Page 3: February 22, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TWO security experts have called on President J.A. Kufuor to set up a high-powered independent commission of enquiry into the operations of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) since 2001.
Dr Kwesi Aning and Mr Emmanuel Addo Sowatey, who made the call in separate interviews in Accra yesterday, said an investigation into the life cycle of cases dealt with at NACOB could help in shaping up a policy and its implementation to address the challenges of the drug menace facing the country.
Dr Aning suggested that membership of the commission should include representatives of both public and private institutions who understood the drug business.
He said the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) should be made to send representatives to serve on the commission, since their expertise was much needed.
Dr Aning, who is the Head of the Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, said the commission should not only review all the cases handled since the period but also the handling of exhibits and their whereabouts.
He said the level of infiltration into the national drug fighting agency was so high that the problem needed to be dealt with.
Dr Aning said he did not believe that the government should take the missing drugs at the Police Headquarters as an isolated case, since the problem was much bigger than that.
“We need to ensure that every drug that is said to have been destroyed has, indeed, been destroyed. This should not be difficult to find out, since there are procedures for destroying these drugs, after which certificates are to be counter-signed by all the parties, with pictures available,” he said.
“Were orders or directives issued for the destruction by the trial judges? When was it done and who were present?” he asked.
According to him, the drug problem had become a national crisis with serious security implications which must be dealt with immediately, since it could no longer be swept under the carpet.
“That is why it is important to set up a genuine independent commission, with support from the UNODC, to help address the challenges,” he stated.
Dr Aning said the investigation must cover the vetting of all staff, including the property they had acquired over the years.
He said all the bad nuts must be weeded out of the system to restore the credibility of NACOB.
For his part, Mr Sowatey said it should be easy to check on the cycle of any case, including the handling and management of exhibits.
“I call for a thorough review of the entire system,” he stated.
He said there were suspicions that arrests made in the period had fizzled out with nothing to show.