Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev. Ntim Fordjour, has accused the government of failing to take decisive action against Ghana’s growing drug trafficking crisis.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, he questioned why no head of a relevant state agency had been removed despite a series of major drug-related incidents linked to Ghana.

“No, the government hasn’t acted. Who has been fired? Has there been any agency head who has been fired in the value chain?” the Assin South MP asked.

Rev. Fordjour said about 16 agencies form part of the relevant value chain, with about five closely connected to the current controversy.

“And yet, everybody is enjoying their salaries, everybody is enjoying their, you know, their benefits, and they are just there,” he said.

His comments come amid renewed scrutiny of Ghana’s role in international drug trafficking following the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine in France on September 10. French customs found the cocaine concealed in a container of plastic waste that had arrived from Ghana.

The Minority has said major drug seizures linked to Ghana over the past two years have exceeded US$1 billion and has petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to recall the House for an inquiry.

The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has also called for an urgent and coordinated national response to the narcotics threat. It said the crisis required deeper investigations into the networks behind major shipments.

Rev. Fordjour said the President must demonstrate stronger political will to confront the situation.

“The president is not willing and ready to solve the problem, or if he has solutions, he is just not willing to put the political will to crack the whip and do what is right,” he said.

He said the country needs leadership capable of responding decisively to the growing threat.

“And so, we need strong leadership, and we need President Mahama on his return from UNGA to act decisively, and to act as a leader who is fully aware of the repercussions of this cartel,” he said.

Rev. Fordjour also defended the Minority’s move to trigger Article 112(3) of the Constitution to have Parliament recalled.

He said the required 15% threshold had been exceeded, with the signatures, petition and memorandum filed with the Speaker last week.

“Yes, we got more than 15%. So the Speaker is expected to quickly issue a notice of recall for us to have an emergency recall, to constitute a committee, a bipartisan committee in Parliament, to dig into it, have a full inquiry into it, a transparent inquiry, so that we will be able to offer solutions,” he said.

He said the Speaker had acknowledged receipt but that the notice of recall had not yet been issued.

“We haven’t seen notice of recall, but it’s expected,” he said, stressing the inquiry should not become a partisan exercise.

“We are interested in solutions that restore Ghana to its glory,” he said, warning that the consequences of drug trafficking extend beyond narcotics.

“Wherever there are drugs, there is money laundering, and wherever there is money laundering, it is linked to terrorism,” he said.

He also linked the drug trade to illegal mining communities, warning that Ghana could become increasingly vulnerable to non-state actors if the trafficking networks are not confronted.

“Wherever you find, you know, drug trafficking, methamphetamine, and cocaine to these tunes of over a billion-dollar bracket, you are now getting into a state of vulnerability, where these non-state elements, these terrorists, that’s what they feed on.”