Ghana’s President Mahama To Tackle Drug Trafficking in West Africa

President John Dramani Mahama has promised to use his position as the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) to tackle the menace of drug trafficking in the sub-region.
He said he would do this by collaborating with other leaders throughout the sub-region to eliminate or reduce the incidence of drug issues.
President Mahama made this promise when members of the West African Commission on Drugs (WACD)called on him at the Flagstaff House in Kanda.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Chairman of the Commission led the delegation to present their report to President Mahama.
They also made recommendations on the report titled “Not Just in Transit, drugs the state and society in West Africa,” for heads of state and governments of African countries to address drug trafficking and its related repercussions on society.
Mr Kofi Annan, a former Secretary General of the United Nations, whose Foundation collaborated with the Commission to investigate and compile the report, was also present.
The WACD was established in January 2013 to investigate the ever-growing threats posed by drugs in West Africa and beyond.
President Mahama said the fight against drug trafficking should go beyond the confines of the sub-region by understudying measures that other continents are adopting for the menace.
He added: “Think globally, act locally to achieve the goals against the menace of drugs in West Africa and the continent”.
President Mahama said government will continue to use measures that will free the West African sub-region from the negative repercussions of drugs.
Former President Obasanjo called for the treatment of drug use as a public health issue with socio-economic causes and consequences rather than as a criminal justice matter.
He also called for active confrontation of the political and governance challenges that incite corruption within governments, the security services and the judiciary which traffickers exploit, and to strengthen law enforcement for more selective deterrence, focusing on high level targets.
The former president also called for development and reformation of drug laws on the basis of existing and emerging minimum standards and to decriminalize drug use and low-level non-violent drug offences.
Mr Kofi Annan said though drug trade and trafficking had over the years undermined society and democracy there was the need to develop a firm way of dispensing justice to both dealers and users.
Punishments, he added, should not overshadow the reformation of users as so much had been expended on prisons rather than the health concerns of the users.