Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor says cocaine seizures span multiple governments and argues the fight against narcotics should be treated as a national issue, not a partisan one.
Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has pushed back on attempts to turn Ghana's drug trafficking problem into a party fight, saying the record shows the challenge stretches back years and across administrations.
His comments, reported by Adom Online, were made in a post on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.
What he said
Mr Dafeamekpor set out a list of drug seizures and arrests recorded in Ghana between 2017 and 2024, involving both Ghanaians and foreign nationals. The cases he referenced covered cocaine and heroin intercepted at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra, at Ghana Post facilities, and at other locations around the country.
He also pointed further back, to a large cocaine seizure at Nsawam in the Eastern Region in 2008.
"We were declared a drug trafficking hub under an NPP Govt in 2008," the MP wrote, referring to the New Patriotic Party, which was in government at the time.
His appeal was direct: "So let's stop the politics and support Govt efforts to fight the drug menace as a Nation."
The 2009 US report
To back his point, Mr Dafeamekpor cited a January 2009 report by the United States Department of State, the American government department responsible for foreign affairs.
That report described Ghana as a transshipment point for illegal drugs, meaning narcotics passed through the country on their way to other destinations rather than originating here. It named cocaine arriving from South America and heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
According to the MP's account of the report, the drugs moved through Kotoka International Airport towards Europe and the United States. The report also noted that some of the traffic fed drug use inside Ghana itself.
Why it matters
Drug trafficking has become a live political argument in Ghana, with parties trading blame over seizures and arrests. Mr Dafeamekpor's intervention is an attempt to reframe that argument by showing that interceptions have happened under different governments.
As Majority Leader, he speaks for the governing side in Parliament, so his call for bipartisan support also serves a political purpose. Still, the underlying point he is making is that no single administration created the problem.
For Ghanaians in the United States, the 2009 State Department description carries particular weight. Being labelled a transit country can affect how Ghanaian travellers and shipments are treated at foreign ports of entry, and it shapes how Ghana is discussed in international drug enforcement circles.
Mr Dafeamekpor did not announce any new policy measure or legislation. His post was an appeal for a shared national response rather than a statement of government action.
