Non-partisan debate of drug problem a necessity* Says Kofi Quantson

Page 48/49: July 3, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A FORMER Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson, has called for a national non-partisan platform to exhaustively review the drug problem in the country, from law enforcement, through prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration.
Responding to questions on the recent seizure of drugs across the country, Mr Quantson commended the police for the recent hauls of large quantities of narcotics but pointed to those seizures as evidence that the drug problem was becoming more entrenched, saying that should give cause for concern by all.
He said it was time for a greater public involvement in the search for solutions to the drug cases that affected the international image of the country.
Mr Quantson, who is also a former National Security Co-ordinator, said, “The best platform will be a non-partisan parliamentary commission serviced by local expertise and other knowledgeable people.”
He said the outcome of that exercise should produce solutions to be owned by the people and implemented through the people.
According to him, the government had announced measures and taken some steps to address the problem.
“As to whether some of the measures can provide a sustainable solution to the problem is not quite clear,” he said.
Mr Quantson noted that the Justice Georgina Wood Committee failed in its primary task of finding where the missing cocaine on the MV Benjamin went, while the Ampewuah Committee also failed to find the missing five kilogrammes of cocaine at NACOB, with the Kojo Armah Committee failing to find the whereabouts of the missing cocaine at the Exhibits Store of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service.
“What all these mean is that the infrastructure that was in place for bringing in the drugs and their disappearance is still intact. It constitutes an indictment on the enforcement system,” he stated.
Mr Quantson said the public had also been shielded from the reports of the committees and, therefore, wondered how the public would get involved in solving the problem.
He noted that the government organised a series of workshops, under the auspices of NACOB, at Elmina and Akosombo in 2006, the outcomes of which were to see the strengthening of NACOB and its status raised to a commission under the Presidency.
He said the war on drugs should be fought on a comprehensive multi-disciplinary basis to simultaneously address enforcement and preventive measures through education and treatment for addicted persons.
Mr Quantson said it was in recognition of this that the United Nations proposed that membership of the boards of drug fighting agencies should be based on the multi-disciplinary approach, with institutional representation.
He said in response to that, NACOB was established with representation from the core ministries involved in enforcement, health, education, among others.
“The drug plague has landed on our shores and sustained measures must be taken to deal with it. Enforcement action should be executed consistently, and offenders dealt with in a transparent, expeditious way,” he said.