From 'Credible Intel' to 'Metaphor': NPP’s U-turn on cocaine manufacturing in Ghana allegation

Days after nearly 4 tonnes of cocaine believed to be worth over $250 million were seized at a port in France from a container traced to Ghana, the largest opposition political party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), held a press conference. At this press conference, the party alleged that there was a cocaine manufacturing hub in Ghana. Leading figures of the party corroborated that claim, saying that they had credible intelligence that there was a cocaine manufacturing hub in Ghana. These claims led to calls for the security agencies in the country to invite the party’s leaders who made the allegation because of its seriousness - particularly the national security implications and the damage to Ghana’s international reputation. Now, the leaders of the party appear to be moving away from the initial allegation, saying their claims were taken out of context. Here are excerpts from earlier claims by some members of the opposition party, NPP, that there are cocaine manufacturing hubs in Ghana: The National Organiser of the NPP, Nana Boakye, aka Nana B, was the first to make the allegation. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, Nana B claimed that there was a cocaine manufacturing plant in Ghana. He alleged that Ghana had moved beyond being merely a transit point for cocaine and that drug traffickers had established clandestine laboratories in the country to process narcotics for export. “These drug lords, they have established basic laboratories here for processing of illicit drugs and narcotics under the watch of President Mahama,” he said. There is a cocaine manufacturing hub in Ghana - NPP MP alleges Claim of NPP intelligence on the cocaine laboratories: The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour, reaffirmed the claim by his party that cocaine is currently being manufactured in Ghana. Speaking in an interview on Citi FM on Tuesday, the NPP MP also asserted that Ghana was not only a transit point for cocaine smuggling and that there was some level of manufacturing ongoing in the country. He stated that his party has intelligence that confirms the claim. Asked whether his party’s claim was “theory or a fact”, Agyei Baffour said, “Fact based on intelligence.” “There's some degree, some level of manufacturing in here… it's a fact based on intelligence... Don't underestimate the New Patriotic Party as a major political party. People give us information,” he added. He added, “It is on this basis that an enquiry is very necessary, because if it is established, like we have been informed by way of our intelligence, that indeed there is a manufacturing hub in this country, then it's a very serious matter. If it is also established that indeed there is an importation, it is also equally a very serious matter.” When asked to disclose the location of the hub, the MP said that he couldn’t do so publicly. He also refused to state whether the NPP had informed the nation’s security apparatus about its intelligence on the existence of the cocaine manufacturing hub. The change in tone of the cocaine laboratories: Now, the party, led by its leadership in parliament, appears to be abandoning its claim of there being cocaine manufacturing hubs in Ghana. Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, in his defence of his party’s description of Ghana as a cocaine manufacturing "hub", said the claim was only a metaphor rather than a literal claim. Speaking in an interview on Adom TV's Badwam, the Effutu MP said the claims by his party were made in the context of concerns over cocaine allegedly passing through Ghana's borders and claims of possible involvement of government appointees. He said the statement should therefore not be treated as an allegation requiring him to provide evidence. "It is not a matter of evidence. The statement was what I will call metaphorical; it was a metaphor," he said. Afenyo-Markin argued that repeated reports of cocaine allegedly passing through Ghana, alongside arrests linked to such incidents, raise questions about the effectiveness of the country's border controls. According to the Minority Leader, such circumstances could create an environment that facilitates the movement of cocaine through the country. "What you are telling us is that you have created a lab for a cocaine business to drive," he noted. He explained that his use of the word "hub" was to describe a situation where Ghana could potentially become a transhipment point for cocaine moving from one destination to another. "So, the language used was a metaphor," he added. Inside Ghana’s Abandoned Engineering Powerhouse: What Went Wrong? Source: GhanaWeb (https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/From-Credible-Intel-to-Metaphor-NPP-s-U-turn-on-cocaine-manufacturing-in-Ghana-allegation-2054506)