Lawyer and lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Makola, Bobby Banson, has warned that Ghana risks gaining notoriety as a hub for narcotics trafficking if recent drug-related concerns are not urgently addressed.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Banson said Ghana’s growing association with drug trafficking could damage the country’s international reputation and expose ordinary citizens to increased scrutiny when travelling abroad.

His comments follow recent drug busts and renewed calls for stronger measures to combat narcotics trafficking and strengthen Ghana’s systems for detecting illicit drugs.

Mr Banson described the situation as a “national embarrassment”, citing reports that France had raised concerns about its level of trust in Ghana in relation to information-sharing.

“I think that whoever is in charge of ensuring that this embarrassment…because it is a national embarrassment, for France, from what the Minister is reported to have said, to say that they don’t trust Ghana enough to share information with us goes a long way to affect the standing of Ghanaians,” he said.

He warned that sustained concerns over narcotics trafficking could eventually affect how Ghanaian travellers are treated at international airports.

Mr Banson recounted his experience travelling from some African countries to Europe, where passengers faced enhanced security checks because of concerns that drugs could be carried on flights from those countries.

“If you take a flight from certain African countries to Europe, you know the terminal you get to and the kind of security they bring dogs and they tell you that from those countries, the suspicion is that there may be somebody on the flight with the drug, so the security check is different,” he said.

He cautioned that Ghana could find itself facing similar treatment if its reputation in connection with narcotics trafficking continues to grow.

“Ghana is attaining this notoriety, and we may end up in the same bracket where every flight from Ghana you arrive then they bring dogs at the entry points to sniff everybody,” he warned.

‘Think of Ghana first’

Mr Banson also urged political actors to avoid turning the narcotics issue into a partisan contest, arguing that the consequences of Ghana’s international reputation would be borne by citizens regardless of their political affiliations.

He said foreign authorities would not distinguish between supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) when dealing with Ghanaian travellers.

“If we do politics with this, when you get outside, they don’t ask you are you NPP or NDC, was the drug bust in NPP’s time?” he said.

“They just treat you as having a Ghanaian passport.”

He therefore called for the country’s response to the narcotics threat to be guided by the national interest.

“And that shame, that embarrassment, I believe that we should think of Ghana first and avoid it,” he added.