GHANA'S INTERIOR MINISTER DISCUSSES NARCOTICS,

UNCLAS ACCRA 002316

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

PLEASE PASS TO JOHN LYLE AND ERENI ROESS AT INL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM PREL GH
SUBJECT: GHANA'S INTERIOR MINISTER DISCUSSES NARCOTICS,
PRISONS

REF: ACCRA 01644


1. (U) Summary: On November 2, the Ambassador paid a courtesy
call on the Minister of Interior Papa Owusu Ankomah. The
Minister emphasized Ghana's increasing role as a transit
point for narcotics and pressed for further narcotics
enforcement assistance. He also acknowledged Ghana's poor
prison conditions and defects in the criminal justice system
and said the Government of Ghana recognizes the need to
address them. End Summary.

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LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE
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2. (U) The Ambassador noted the Government of Ghana's strong
record of law enforcement cooperation and pointed out the
breadth of law enforcement assistance the U.S. government
plans to provide to Ghana. This includes police training,
$250,000 in anti-human trafficking training and assistance
and $200,000 in additional narcotics enforcement assistance
(see reftel). The Ambassador also said the Embassy had
nominated a number of law enforcement officials for
International Visitor Progams.


3. (SBU) The Minister expressed concern about increasing
narcotics traffic through Ghana, particularly cocaine
trafficked from South America into Europe through Ghana. He
noted that his law enforcement agencies are surveilling South
American groups who do not appear to have any gainful
employment or legitimate business activity in Ghana. (Note:
The head of Ghana Police Service's Narcotics Unit told the
Embassy he suspects Colombians now resident in Ghana are
involved in the drug trade.) The minister said he would
submit a written proposal to the U.S. Embassy seeking further
assistance to combat drug trafficking in Ghana.

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PRISON ISSUES
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4. (U) The Ambassador raised the issue of congested prisons
and the thousands of prisoners on remand who have never
received a hearing or a trial. (In his prior role as
Attorney General, the Minister called for a review of all
prisoners on remand in the fall 2004 after a senior Ghana
Prisons Service official reported finding prisoners on remand
for up to 10 years.)


5. (U) The Minister said he knew prisons were crowded and in
poor condition. According to Owusu Ankomah, the Prisons
Service had undertaken some improvements in the last year
although he did not offer specifics or indicate whether
inmate capacity had increased. He said incarcerating
prisoners was costly, and the Government of Ghana will need
to explore community-based sentencing as an alternative to
prison terms to reduce its inmate population.

BRIDGEWATER