A fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asiedu Sarpong, has called for the plug of Ghana’s port of entry as a matter of urgency to tackle the loopholes in the smuggling of harmful drugs into the country.
This call follows a BBC documentary exposing an Indian pharmaceutical company’s illicit manufacture and export of unlicensed, highly addictive opioids to West Africa, where they are fueling a severe public health crisis in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire.
Speaking with Joy News on Tuesday, February 26, Dr. Asiedu Sarpong cited comments from the documentary where these individuals involved in the smuggle explained that from India, it is difficult to get through ports in Nigeria, but they can get through ports in Ghana, which is a sign of weakness as a country.
He advised that plugging the entry port should be a multidisciplinary exercise between the collaborative institutional partners of Customs like the Food and Drug Authority, Narcotics Control Commission, and the National Security, emphasizing that these drugs are getting into the country because collaboration between these institutions is poor and needs to be fixed.
“We need to plug our ports of entry as a matter of urgency, and that must be multidisciplinary because I always say the port is controlled by customs, but the other agencies like the FDA, NACOC, and the National Security are there as collaborative institutional partners. And it seems to me if these drugs are getting through, then the collaboration is poor, and that in itself is a security issue that has to be fixed.”
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Dr. Asiedu Sarpong believes that these drugs are fueling the galamsey fights in the country, noting that litters of Tafrodol and other harmful drugs are found on these galamsey sites. He therefore considers this an issue of urgency that requires immediate attention because he believes that if the fight against galamsey is won, then these addicts will be on the streets, which will mean that the government would have to get more rehabilitation centers, which are currently limited in the country.
“If we continue with this galamsey fight and we are able to reclaim the forests, we will then have these addicts falling off unto the streets because they cannot get the money from galamsey to fuel their habits, and the state would have to deal with them. We shouldn’t allow the problem to happen before we seek solutions.”
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Dr. Asiedu Sarpong further advised that individuals who are found with these drugs should not be given administrative fines, and any pharmacy that has these drugs should be shut down.
“Nobody puts tapentadol and carisoprodol together with the hope of doing any other thing than manning humankind. And anyone who has that criminal intention should not get an administrative fine,” he emphasized.