Ghana continues to face international embarrassment over repeated drug trafficking incidents linked to its airports, with security analyst Adib Sani attributing the problem to weak leadership and possible complicity among officials.
Speaking in a recent interview, Sani, who is also the Executive Director of Jatikay Security Services, said the scale of seizures and the volume of drugs intercepted make it clear that current strategies are failing.
“The indicators are clear for everybody to see,” he said. “If the leadership is weak at the top or down the chain, everything is really in a state of confusion, and that is exactly what we witness.”
Sani argued that leaders must take responsibility for the failures of those under them.
Drawing an analogy, he noted that if a cleaner in a company commits a serious offence, the boss is held accountable because proper leadership should have prevented it. The same principle, he said, applies to Ghana’s security architecture.
He expressed particular frustration over the lack of meaningful updates since recent high-profile incidents.
A statement about cooperation with Lebanese counterparts, he argued, “appeared to be a fiasco” and “was an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians.”
“At this point, what we don’t want [are] statements, we don’t want releases, we want action,” Sani stressed.
Despite a meeting last month between the President and heads of security agencies on drug-related issues, trafficking persists. Enhanced airport security measures — including multiple layers of checks that require passengers to arrive earlier — have not stopped the flow. “These people are still able to go through with their drugs,” Sani said. “That tells you some level of complicity.”
He referenced an interview by a Lebanese narcotics official with Lebanon Broadcasting Corporation International, in which it was claimed that a Syrian national had paid bribes to Ghanaian airport officials to facilitate the movement of a consignment nearly the size of a cement bag.
“Our strategy is not working,” Sani said.
“The height of incompetence is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
He called on the President to act decisively, including the possible dismissal of the narcotics boss, the national security coordinator, and any other officials failing in their duties.
The consequences extend beyond reputation, he warned. Ghanaian passport holders face increased security profiling abroad, while exporters risk delays that can spoil perishable goods and damage commercial relationships.
“We are seen as a hotspot. It is worrying…I lose sleep at night over what is going on,” he said.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
