News:
September 24, 2026
The Majority in Parliament has announced that the government has instituted a dedicated court to deal with narcotics-related cases, describing it as a major step in reforming the fight against drug trafficking in Ghana. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the Majority Leader, James Agalga, said the special court was established under President John Dramani Mahama to ensure that narcotics offences are handled with the speed, expertise, and consistency they require.
Mr. Agalga said that for years Ghana did not have a dedicated or delegated court to deal with narcotics-related offences, forcing such cases onto the regular criminal calendar where they competed with all other cases. He explained that this fragmentation contributed to a growing pile of drug-related cases, leaving suspects—some guilty and others presumed innocent—languishing in the justice system while the punitive effect of the narcotics law diminished with time.
The Majority Leader argued that delayed justice in narcotics cases is not a neutral outcome, but an advantage handed free of charge to trafficking networks that know institutions move slower than they do. He said it was the fragmentation of narcotics cases, rather than a lack of diligence by prosecutors or investigators, that led the government to create the dedicated court as a corrective measure.
According to Mr. Agalga, the special court will harmonise narcotics cases in a single forum and help develop the specialised expertise, continuity, and institutional memory required for complex drug cases. He said the court will also help bridge the gap between arrest and conviction that has weakened the efforts of narcotics prosecutors over the years, while allowing the backlog of pending cases to be systematically addressed.
Citing enforcement figures, the Majority Leader said NACOC recorded 217 arrests across 165 cases in 2025, compared with 73 arrests nationwide in 2024. He added that out of the suspects arrested, 95 were referred to court, 120 were under active investigation, and six convictions were secured from the 165 cases, resulting in a conviction rate of 3.6 percent. He said the dedicated court is expected to improve prosecution outcomes and restore the credibility of the country’s narcotics laws.
The Majority called for continued and coordinated cooperation among security and law enforcement agencies, including NACOC, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, and the ports and harbours authority. It urged the public, the media, and Parliament to assess the government’s performance on the basis of the evidence presented and to hold it accountable for the work still to come in the fight against narcotics.
Ghanamps.com