Ghana CSOs urged to join fight against drug trafficking

Civil society organisations (CSOs) working in Ghana have been called upon to join the fight against drug trafficking.

His Lordship, Justice Resolu John Bankole-Thompson, a Sierra Leonean judge and former  panelist of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone told the CSOs that drug trafficking has become epidemic and it is posing a challenge to the rule of law in West Africa.

He was speaking at a meeting between WACD and CSOs at the Secretariat of the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) in Accra.

Justice Bankole-Thompson  who is also a member of the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD), urged CSOs to engage with other stakeholders such as the judiciary, governments, Think Tanks and international organisations to form robust alliances to influence policies aimed at addressing drug trafficking and related challenges in Ghana and the sub-region.

According to the WACSI, West Africa serves as a safe hub for drug transiting on the continent. Research findings hold that 30 per cent of drugs that are transited in the region are consumed by West Africans.

WACD was created by the Kofi Annan Foundation in January 2013 to raise awareness on the issue of drug trafficking and consumption in West Africa. It therefore seeks to galvanise political commitment by governments of West African states in the fight against the perpetration of drug-related crimes in the region, WACSI added.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi