The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called for the immediate removal of heads of key state institutions responsible for Ghana’s ports, maritime security, narcotics control, intelligence and customs operations following the interception of a major cocaine shipment linked to Ghana.

The party’s National Organiser, Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, made the call at an NPP press conference on Tuesday, September 22 on the country’s growing concerns over drug trafficking.

His comments follow the seizure by French customs authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of suspected cocaine at the Port of Dunkirk on September 10. The consignment, concealed in a container carrying plastic waste, had arrived from Ghana and was estimated to be worth about €225 million.

The seizure has triggered scrutiny of how the shipment allegedly passed through Ghana’s export and port security processes without being detected.

Nana B said the scale of the incident required immediate accountability at the leadership level, arguing that officials overseeing institutions along the chain through which the shipment passed should be removed.

“The NPP demands the immediate removal of Institutional heads, and the ministers they report to.

I saw a video where Honourable Muntaka was telling us, that it appears the French authorities do not even want collaborate with aauthorities here because they have lost confidence in them and that they don’t trust them, this statement alone should have triggered his removal or resignation.

This is the Minister of interior who said that he is not trusted. His foreign counterparts do not believe him, they don’t want to share information with him and other officials, why? Because they don’t truust them. They must resign or they must be sacked with immediate effects,” he said.

The NPP National Organiser was referring to comments by Interior Minister Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, who disclosed that foreign security counterparts were becoming hesitant to share intelligence with Ghanaian agencies because of concerns over insider leaks.

Nana B subsequently listed several institutional heads he said should be removed, including the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, the Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority.

He also called for the removal of the Director-General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) and his deputies.

“The Director General, Ghana Ports and Habour Authority, he must be sacked . The Director General, Ghana Maritime Authority, this person must be fired.. The Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Shippers Authority. This person must go. The Director General, Nacortics Control Commission and the deputies, they must all go.

National Security Coordinator, Director General, National Intelligence Bureau. The Managing Director, Ghana Airport Company Limited. The Commissioner General, Customs Division and the CID Boss, she has really displayed incompetence, all of them must be sacked."

Nana B further accused the government of shielding officials whose institutions are implicated in the security chain and called for decisive action to restore confidence in Ghana’s anti-narcotics systems. He said the scale of the incident, and the fact that the shipment was intercepted only after leaving Ghana, warranted the immediate removal of officials along the chain of command.

“And the president is pampering them. Your excellency, Ghana is embarrassed internationally, we need some proactive measures, some drastic measures. And if we can have such huge amount of illicit drugs moving freely, escorted by officials through our ports and we only found out in France, all those officers along the chain of command must be sacked.”