The Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, came under severe pressure in Parliament yesterday, when the leadership of the Minority descended on him to withdraw a statement, in which he described the country as turning into �Cocaine Coast� in the year 2008.
The Minority argued that drug trafficking was a serious offence, and should not be used by any political party for political expediency, because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government also did its best in the fight against the menace. They then demanded that the Speaker, Rt. Hon Justice Joyce Bamford Addo, impress upon the leader of the house to substantiate the basis of his submission, or withdraw.
The Deputy Minority Leader, Ambrose Derry, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said the NPP government convicted drug barons in the country, which was a main success that the government chalked in its fight against the menace. He, together with Prof,. Mike Oquaye, challenged the accuser to provide proof.
Mr Avoka came back to argue that the point being made by the Minority was neither here nor there, because other members referred to documents, for which they were not asked to substantiate what they were alluding to. He added that the reference he made was done by the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, in October 2008, at a high-level conference on drug trafficking as a security threat to West Africa, in Praia, Cape Verde.
He said UNDOC Director warned, �West Africa is at risk of becoming an epicenter for drug trafficking, and the crime and corruption associated with it.�
�Time is running out,� warned Mr. Costa. �The threat is spreading throughout the region, turning the Gold Coast into the Coke Coast.� The Majority Leader, after making the document available to the Speaker, eventually withdrew his submission to allow for the business of the House to continue.
The House then brought the debate on thanking the President for the State of the Nation address to an end.
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