The Minority in Parliament has defended its call for an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate recent narcotics seizures after the Speaker dismissed their motion as inadmissible on September 29.
The motion was rejected during an emergency sitting of Parliament, with Speaker Alban Bagbin ruling it out of order. The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu Afenyo-Markin, said the proposal was not meant to put anyone on trial or decide criminal guilt. Instead, it sought to examine how state agencies charged with narcotics control have been performing.
“These submissions we submit are important because the motion we filed before the House does not seek to trial any accused person, it does not ask Parliament to pronounce criminal liability, pronounce upon the guilt or innocent of any person, assess the credibility of prosecution witnesses or decide upon evidence that is properly before the court,” Afenyo-Markin said.
The Minority caucus said the committee would focus on assessing the effectiveness of institutions involved in narcotics control, customs administration, port and airport security, intelligence gathering, maritime surveillance, and border protection. They want to investigate why there have been continued narcotics incidents despite these agencies’ responsibilities.
“It asks whether the state institutions responsible for Narcotics Control, Customs administration, Ports and Airports security, intelligence gathering, Maritime surveillance and border protection have discharged their responsibilities effectively in the face of cessation of major narcotic incidents since January 2025,” the Minority explained.
They stressed that Parliament’s role in overseeing public institutions is separate from the courts’ role in determining criminal liability. “We submit that as far as the courts are concerned with the criminal liability of particular accused persons, Parliament is concerned with the performance, administration and accountability of public institutions,” the Minority said. “These are separate constitutional functions even where they arise from some of the same underlying factors.”
The call for the committee follows a series of high-profile drug busts in Ghana, which have raised questions about how well state agencies are handling narcotics trafficking and border security. The Minority wants Parliament to use its oversight powers to hold these institutions accountable.
The Speaker’s dismissal of the motion means the committee will not be established unless the decision is revisited. The Minority’s insistence on institutional review reflects ongoing concerns about drug control in Ghana and the effectiveness of enforcement agencies.
The debate over the motion highlights the tension between Parliament’s oversight duties and the judiciary’s role in criminal cases. The Minority’s focus remains on institutional accountability rather than individual prosecutions.
According to 3News.
