Minority calls for bi-partisan committee to investigate Nayele Ametefeh’s cocaine case
The Minority in Parliament has called for the establishment of a bipartisan parliamentary committee to investigate the Nayele Ametefe cocaine case.
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It said the unfolding events in the cocaine saga and the inconsistencies in the responses from members of government called for the intervention of Parliament.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the Ametefe affair was not only a sordid matter but also shrouded in mystery.
He said the saga seemed to be thickening, adding that there had been many contradictory reports.
"Soon after the news broke of the arrest of the character in question, there appeared to be a mad rush to clean up the act. That explains why Ghana's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Victor Smith, spoke on several radio channels, stating his concern and discomfort and was indeed frantic in having access to the narcotics lady in prison, while complaining that the UK authorities failed to inform him of the arrest,” he said.
Questions
“The question remains: how many Ghanaians who have been arrested have been visited by our ambassadors and high commissioners?” he asked.
“The statement by the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), hurriedly scripted and signed by the Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr Nii Lante Blankson, categorically stated, among other things, that Nayele Ametefe, also known as Ruby Adu-Gyamfi, alias Ruby Appiah, aka Angel, was arrested on November 10, 2014 through the collaborative effort of NACOB and its British partners.
“This statement, laughable as it was, stood for some time, in spite of the doubts raised by all men and women of conscience.
“Then the British High Commissioner in Ghana waded in with a disclaimer, given the repugnance of the statement by NACOB. The statement was crisp and came without prevarication. According to it, they expected NACOB to have arrested the Angel woman in Accra and not have permitted her to board a flight to London in order to traffic in drugs.
“Continuing, the British High Commission strongly asserted that they had no prior information on the intentions of Ms Ametefe before boarding the flight," he said.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane-Boamah's intervention denying the version of NACOB was a face-saving "volte-face", adding that surprisingly the minister shifted the burden of proof onto the British authorities when he said the UK should prove that Ametefe travelled on a diplomatic passport.
"Why not ask the Ghana Immigration Service officers at the Kotoka International Airport?" he asked.
He chronicled the events that occurred after that and said the resort to propaganda by NACOB should be a matter of concern to all Ghanaians.
The Minority Leader said it took time and painstaking effort to build and nurture trust between and among countries in the fight against narcotics, money laundering, the financing of terrorism, human trafficking and other crimes, adding that with that singular bungling of the Ametefe matter, NACOB had succeeded in shredding the reputation of Ghana into pieces.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the government had made many promises in the past to deal with the drug trade but failed woefully.
All the people of Ghana had seen, he said, were promises, rhetoric and empty assurances.
Questions begging for answers
He asked why NACOB, the mandated agency, thus far had maintained a stony silence and allowed the ministry responsible for information to misinform the country.
He also sought to know what had happened to the 2006 Operation Westbridge collaboration between Ghana and the UK, which in 2010 the Guardian newspaper of the UK said had been beset by corruption.
The Minority Leader also wanted to know from the government who had written the NACOB statement which turned out to be false and what had happened to those who authored it.
"Why did the government resort to the knee-jerk reactions by dissolving the Board of NACOB, while leaving the field operatives, and how did it become possible for the cocaine lady to use the VVIP Lounge at the Kotoka International Airport?" he asked.
The way forward
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said if the government wanted to be taken seriously on the war against narcotics; it should act swiftly and decisively by totally overhauling NACOB.
He also advised the government to immediately re-engage the security agencies in the UK and the US in the fight against narcotics, adding that any official caught tampering with equipment or collaborating with drug couriers and barons should be dealt with.
He called for the immediate submission of the draft bill which was prepared in 2008 to turn NACOB into a commission to Parliament and the position of Executive Secretary of NACOB reverted to the hands of professionals and intelligence operatives, instead of politicians, to curb the patronising attitude of officials.
