NPP MP’s Cocaine Scandal

… He Couldn’t Have Acted Alone

The United States government has been challenged to reopen the Eric Amoateng drug case in order to expose other accomplices who were public officials in the previous administration.

Abednego Orstin Rawlings, a National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth activist threw this challenge in an exclusive interview with The Daily Democrat in Accra. According to him, it is impossible for the former NPP Member of Parliament for Nkoranza North to act alone without the support of state machinery and that an attempt was made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime to protect its officials who were allegedly involved in the shipment of $6m worth of heroine to the U.S.

Mr. Rawlings claims that, intelligence report he is privy to indicates there were some members of the legislature who were involved in the illegal deal and that, about four of them could be jailed if the case were re-opened.

He promised his call for the reopening of the Amoateng case on the expectation that, if more of the legislators are jailed it would drastically reduce the incidence of drug trafficking in West Africa, a sub-region where Ghana has become the main drug transit point since the inception of the NPP administration in 2001.

The previous NPP government tried to bring drug offenders convicted in European and American prisons under the infamous Amoateng Bill but Ghanaians rejected it because of its true motive, Mr. Rawlings indicated. According to him, it was obvious that the decision by the NPP government to bring down convicted drug offenders to serve their jail term in the country was unpopular and had to be dropped.

Mr. Orstin Rawlings commended President John Evans Atta Mills for allowing security personnel stationed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to conduct a search on him to demonstrate the fact that he is committed to fighting the drug menace in the country.
Mr. Rawlings rejected the assertion that the move by the president amounted to populism and said it rather shows a mark of leadership.

He indicated that, President Mills promised the entire world that if he becomes the president of Ghana he and NDC would fight against drug trafficking in the country and that, the search conducted on him was no populism.

According to him, the way the NPP handled the MV Benjamin case for instance even backs the assertion that, the NPP were aiding the drug barons. Mr. Rawlings pointed out that, the ruling party NDC would expose all drug trafficking in the country, as indicated in its manifesto. “The NDC would do all it can to expose drug dealers in the country”, he charged.

Source: The Daily Democrat