Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has called for stronger monitoring and inspection systems at Ghana’s ports to help prevent drug trafficking through the country.
His call follows a recent report of a drug bust in another jurisdiction involving a consignment whose origin was traced to one of Ghana’s ports.
In a Facebook post on Monday, September 21, 2026, Mr Gyamfi said the development was a concern and suggested that such incidents could be linked to weaknesses in the 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 pointed to the role of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), which he said is mandated to monitor, regulate, enforce and control the trafficking of narcotics in Ghana.
He questioned the decision to remove NACOC from the list of Port Inspection Agencies in June 2018, arguing that the move weakened the Commission’s port inspection function.
According to him, the decision also denied NACOC the ability to detect and prevent drug trafficking through Ghana’s ports of entry and exit.
While acknowledging that it was unclear what informed the 2018 decision, Mr Gyamfi said the restoration of NACOC’s port inspection role was an important step towards strengthening controls at the country’s entry and exit points.
He said President John Dramani Mahama had directed that NACOC be restored to the list of Port Inspection Agencies with immediate effect and granted unrestricted access to all entry and exit points by air, land and sea.
Mr Gyamfi also said he understood that the President had directed that all scanners and personnel at Ghana’s ports be changed with immediate effect.
He expressed confidence that NACOC could contribute to stemming drug trafficking if given the necessary support.
“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.
Mr Gyamfi said the measures, if effectively implemented, could strengthen checks and controls at Ghana’s ports and help prevent similar incidents from recurring.
“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.
