Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has raised concerns over the exclusion of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) from routine port inspection arrangements, arguing that the decision weakened Ghana’s ability to detect and prevent drug trafficking through its ports.
In a Facebook post on Monday, September 21, 2026, Mr Gyamfi said he was concerned about a recent drug seizure in another jurisdiction involving a consignment whose origin was traced to one of Ghana’s ports.
He attributed such incidents to what he described as weaknesses in monitoring and inspection systems at Ghana’s ports.
“Clearly, these incidents could have only been occasioned by weak monitoring and inspection systems at our ports,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi noted that NACOC is the institution mandated to monitor, regulate, enforce and control narcotics trafficking in Ghana.
He said it was therefore “intriguing” that NACOC was removed from the list of Port Inspection Agencies by the government in June 2018.
While acknowledging that it was unclear what informed the decision at the time, Mr Gyamfi argued that the move weakened NACOC’s port inspection function and limited its ability to detect and prevent narcotics trafficking through Ghana’s entry and exit points.
“…it is evident that the said decision weakened NACOC’s port inspection function and denied them the ability to detect and prevent drug trafficking through the country’s port of entry and exit.” He stated.
His comments follow the renewed scrutiny of Ghana’s port inspection regime following the seizure of a major cocaine consignment by French customs authorities from a container that originated from Ghana.
Mahama restores NACOC to port inspections
Mr Gyamfi welcomed President John Dramani Mahama’s reported directive to restore NACOC to the list of Port Inspection Agencies with immediate effect.
According to him, the directive also grants NACOC unrestricted access to Ghana’s entry and exit points by air, land and sea.
“It is therefore refreshing to learn that President Mahama has directed that effective immediately, NACOC be restored to the list of Port Inspection Agencies and granted unfettered access to all entry and exit points; by air, land and sea,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi said his confidence in NACOC’s ability to contribute to the renewed effort is based partly on his previous work with the Commission under its Director-General, Brigadier General Maxwell Obuba Mantey, particularly in efforts to combat gold smuggling.
“As someone, who has closely worked with the Major General Maxwell Obuba Mantey-led NACOC in fighting gold-smuggling, I am confident that with the necessary support, the NACOC will succeed in stemming this tide,” he said.
READ: Sammy Gyamfi backs Mahama’s move to restore NACOC at ports, says it will strengthen drug checks
Call for stronger port controls
Sammy Gyamfi also said he understood that the President had directed that scanners and personnel at Ghana’s ports be changed with immediate effect.
He expressed the view that restoring NACOC’s inspection role, alongside changes to scanners and personnel, could strengthen controls at the country’s ports.
“I believe that these measures, if implemented effectively, will strengthen checks and control at our ports to forestall the reccurrence of these unfortunate incidents,” he said.
The 2018 port reforms reduced the number of agencies conducting routine joint inspections, with the Ghana Standards Authority, Food and Drugs Authority and Customs Division designated as the three agencies to undertake inspections, while NACOB and National Security were expected to join when necessary based on intelligence.
However, former Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has since disputed the description that NACOC was removed from the port, saying the Commission remained present, but was stopped from participating in routine physical container inspections as part of the 2018 reforms.
