Cocaine seizures: Parliament reconvenes today for emergency sitting

Parliament is set to reconvene today, Tuesday, September 29, 2026, for an extraordinary sitting following a petition by the Minority Caucus seeking parliamentary scrutiny of a series of major narcotics seizures involving consignments linked to Ghana.

The sitting, scheduled to begin at 12 noon at Parliament House in Accra, was summoned by Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin under Article 112(3) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 53 of Parliament’s Standing Orders.

The recall follows a petition led by the First Deputy Minority Whip and Member of Parliament for Tolon, Habib Iddrisu, after Members secured the constitutionally required support to request an extraordinary meeting of the House.

At the centre of the petition is the seizure by French authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the Port of Dunkirk on September 10, 2026. The cocaine was reportedly concealed in a container of plastic waste that had departed Ghana. French authorities estimated the value of the consignment at about €225 million.

The seizure has raised questions about Ghana’s port security, customs controls, intelligence gathering and the effectiveness of systems designed to prevent the country from being used as a transit or operational point for international narcotics trafficking.

Lawmakers are expected to seek information on how the Dunkirk-bound container was processed, inspected, cleared and exported from Ghana.

The Minority’s petition also seeks clarification on the port or facility from which the consignment departed, the companies and institutions involved in its processing and clearance, and the security and inspection procedures applied.

The MPs have further called for information on the status of investigations and arrests as well as the level of cooperation between Ghanaian authorities and their counterparts in France and other countries.

The proposed parliamentary scrutiny is also expected to examine the adequacy of scanning, surveillance and intelligence systems at Ghana’s ports, airports and other points of entry and exit.

The Minority has linked the Dunkirk seizure to several other major narcotics incidents involving consignments connected to Ghana.

These include a reported seizure of more than 3.3 tonnes of cocaine at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast in March 2025, another interception involving about 120 slabs of cocaine along the Takoradi–Cape Coast Highway, and the August 2026 seizure of 866 parcels of suspected cocaine concealed in sacks of gari at a warehouse within the Tema Harbour enclave.

The petition also referenced the seizure by Australian authorities in June 2026 of 320 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in a charcoal consignment reportedly traced to Ghana.

The Minority has argued that the incidents warrant a broader examination of Ghana’s systems for detecting and preventing international drug trafficking, including efforts to identify the financiers, organisers and wider networks behind major narcotics operations.

Ahead of the sitting, Mr Habib Iddrisu also filed a private members’ motion seeking the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to conduct a parliamentary inquiry into the narcotics seizures.

The motion, submitted on September 28 under Standing Order 102, is co-sponsored by eight other NPP MPs and proposes an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the various seizures, including how the consignments were processed, inspected and cleared for export.

The proposed committee would also assess Ghana’s scanning, surveillance and intelligence systems and examine the level of cooperation between Ghanaian authorities and international counterparts.

The motion further calls for recommendations on legislative, administrative, security and institutional reforms aimed at preventing Ghana from being used as an origin, transit or operational point for international narcotics trafficking.

The parliamentary process comes amid wider calls for a coordinated national response to the drug-trafficking threat. The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has separately called for deeper investigations into the networks behind the recent seizures and urged stronger coordination among state institutions.

The September 29 sitting is therefore expected to provide lawmakers with an opportunity to seek answers from relevant state institutions and determine what further parliamentary action may be required.