The Member of Parliament for Afigya Sekeyere and ex Interior Minister Kan Dapaah is challenging the former boss of the Narcotic Control Boss (NACOB) to make public drug barons alleged to be financing the activities of the New Patriotic Party. Ben Ndego chastised the ex-Minister of not showing enough commitment in fighting the drug trade. He was commenting on the wikileaks report which made damning revelations about the Kufuor-led government and less than charitable revelations against the Mills led administration. The report accused the NPP of lacking political will in the fight against drugs in the country ostensibly because the party is being funded by some drug barons. On Joy FM’s news analysis programme News File on Saturday, Ben Ndego accused Mr. Kan Dapaah of weakening NACOB by dismissing top management members and replacing them with people from his constituency. According to him, government at the very top level may have the political will in fighting the drug menace but same cannot be said about some its appointees. He said the reign of Kan Dapaah as Interior Minister witnessed an increase in drug related activities in the country because there was no clear direction at NACOB. But in a reaction the former Interior Minister said the accusations by Ben Ndego lacked basis. He said Ben Ndego and his immediate boss were made to step aside following recommendation by a committee which investigated the circumstances under which 5 kilos of cocaine to be used as exhibits and kept in the custody of NACOB got missing. That he said was not a personal decision he took as a minister. “We thought that it was in everybody’s interest if the two key people at NACOB could be asked to go on leave to allow for free and fair investigations,” he said. He said it is absolutely not true that he has appointed anybody either from his constituency or anywhere as top management or senior staff employee at NACOB as claimed by Ndego. He admitted though that there are four or five recruits at NACOB who are from his constituency, appointment he did nothing to influence, he said, adding they are far from management position as alleged by Ndego. He explained the Interior Ministry has no control over the appointments at NACOB. On the wikileaks report which suggested that he was lackadaisical in the fight against drug, the former minister said that was not true. He explained he disagreed with a US official who said he wasn’t sure if Ghana was doing enough at the airport to combat drug offences. “Just before the conversation we had commissioned the West Bridge project. The project was described as about the best way of dealing with drugs by a UK Minister. “Again the President had just given his approval to employ a number of people to beef up the staff strength at NACOB." He said based on these and other laws introduced by the government to fight drugs, it will be untrue to say government was not doing enough to fight the drug menace. Mr Dapaah challenged Ndego and anybody who has evidence that the NPP is bank rolled by drug dealers to make it available. “We challenge Mr. Ndego to come out with people who wine and dine with drug barons. "It was a very callous statement to make" he said. He said the drug issue must not be politicized if the country wants to win the war against drugs. Play the attached audio for excerpts of the interviews Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana