Sammy Gyamfi, the GoldBod Chief Executive Officer, has said the removal of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) from Ghana’s list of Port Inspection Agencies in 2018 weakened the country’s capacity to detect and prevent drug trafficking through its ports.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, the Akufo-Addo government’s decision taken in June 2018 undermined the Commission’s port inspection role, despite its mandate to monitor, regulate and enforce laws on narcotics trafficking.
Sammy Gyamfi further argued that the reasons for NACOC’s removal remained unclear, but argued that the consequences for drug enforcement were significant.
In a social media post on X, Sammy Gyamfi wrote, “Like all patriotic Ghanaians, I am deeply concerned about the recent report of a drug bust in another jurisdiction, the origin of which was traced to one of Ghana’s ports.
Clearly, these incidents could have only been occasioned by weak monitoring and inspection systems at our ports.
In Ghana, the body mandated to monitor, regulate, enforce and control the trafficking of narcotics is the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC). It is therefore intriguing that the NACOC was completely removed from the list of Port Inspection Agencies by the government in June 2018.
While it is unclear what may have informed that decision in 2018, it is clear that the said decision weakened NACOC’s port inspection function and denied them the ability to detect and prevent drug trafficking through the country’s port of entry and exit.
It is therefore refreshing to learn that President Mahama has directed that, effective immediately, NACOC be restored to the list of Port Inspection Agencies and granted unfettered access to all entry and exit points; by air, land and sea.
As someone who has closely worked with the Major General Maxwell Obuba Mantey-led NACOC in fighting gold-smuggling, I am confident that with the necessary support, the NACOC will succeed in stemming this tide.
I also understand that the President has directed that all scanners and personnel at our ports be changed, effective immediately.
I believe that these measures, if implemented effectively, will strengthen checks and control at our ports to forestall the recurrence of these unfortunate incidents”.
Some netizens reacting to Samm Gyamfi’s post stated, “You’ve been in government for about two years, and somehow, somehow, it was never a concern till now? So if these cases had not come out, there wouldn’t have been any need to revisit the operations of NACOC and possibly re-institute it? You people should take us seriously for once! Ah”.
A netizen added, “My father had a dog called “Kwasia nkai”
The previous government removed NACOC, and U didn’t do anything about it for 2yrs in power. So we should blame them for Ur incompetence?
What happened to the urgency u used to scrub e-levy & betting tax?
Why didn’t u use the same sense?
Ofui!!”.
One X user added, “Another way of diverting attention for Ghanaians to believe that the previous NPP government (or the NPP party) is at fault. Look, you can fool some of the pple some of the time but not all of the pple all the time. Look, not all Ghanaians are fools like your NDC followers, ok..”.
“Our biggest problem is the lack of or ineffective policy implementation. This we find in every sector of our economy. Drug trafficking never stopped anywhere in the world, including my GH. The million-dollar question for me is what has necessitated these recent busts”, a netizen added.
An X user argued, “Well, the change happened in 2018 and worked since then till now. So the removal of NACOC is clearly not the problem unless it did not work since then. Can’t politicians deal with issues without bringing in the opponent as the cause or contributory factor?”.
See the post below:
Like all patriotic Ghanaians, I am deeply concerned about the recent report of a drug bust in another jurisdiction, the origin of which was traced to one of Ghana’s ports.
— Sammy Gyamfi (@SammyGyamfi_) September 21, 2026
Clearly, these incidents could have only been occasioned by weak monitoring and inspection systems at our…
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