Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has dismissed a motion by the Minority seeking the establishment of an ad hoc committee to investigate recent narcotics seizures linked to Ghana.
The ruling was delivered during Parliament’s emergency sitting on Tuesday, September 29, after First Deputy Minority Whip and Tolon MP Habib Iddrisu filed a motion calling for a parliamentary inquiry into a series of high-profile drug seizures in Ghana and abroad.
Speaker Bagbin ruled that the motion was inadmissible, citing parliamentary rules and the potential risk of interfering with ongoing investigations and criminal proceedings.
“It is inadmissible under Standing Orders 5, 6, 103, Rule F, Order 192 and Order 233, and I accordingly dismiss this motion in limine,” the Speaker said.
The Minority had proposed the creation of an Ad Hoc Committee to examine the circumstances surrounding recent narcotics seizures and determine how consignments allegedly linked to Ghana were processed and cleared.
Among the incidents cited in the motion was the seizure of 3.9 metric tonnes of cocaine by French Customs at Dunkirk on September 10, 2026, reportedly valued at about US$261 million.
The proposed committee was expected to examine the ports from which the consignments departed, as well as the intelligence profiling, scanning, physical inspection and customs procedures applied to the shipments.
However, the Speaker’s ruling effectively prevents the proposed parliamentary inquiry from proceeding in its current form.
The Minority’s motion followed a series of high-profile narcotics seizures involving consignments linked to Ghana, raising questions about Ghana’s anti-drug enforcement systems and the processes through which suspected narcotics shipments are handled.
The Speaker’s decision comes as investigations and related criminal cases remain ongoing, with the ruling intended to prevent a parliamentary inquiry from prejudicing those proceedings.
