Kofi Bentil is a Vice President of IMANI Africa
A Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has slammed the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) over its attempt to arrest the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin South, Rev John Ntim Fordjour, over his allegations about cocaine smuggling and money laundering by two planes that landed at the Kotoka International Airport.
According to him, even though Rev Ntim Fordjour made the allegations, he is not obliged by any law to provide evidence of them or be involved in the investigations.
He said that making the allegation is not a crime which means there is no justification for the Assin South MP to be arrested.
“I don’t know what crime he’s committed by the questions he’s asked. If he has made allegations that are not true, it’s for the person arresting him to prove that those allegations constitute a crime.
“And then that person, say it’s a crime, should go to court and prosecute and have him found liable. He does not have to cooperate in his own investigation,” he said in an interview on JoyNews.
The IMANI vice president also explained that Ntim Fordjour, like any citizen of Ghana, has the right to speak on issues happening in the country.
He added that the MP can also ask state authorities questions on national issues and the authorities are obliged by law to answer them.
“Every one of us has the right to freedom of speech. You can say whatever you want to say as long as you don’t insult somebody and you don’t commit a crime with the things that you have said; those include voicing out suspicions. Ntim Fordjour is a citizen of this country and as a citizen of this country, he can say what he wants to say under his freedom of speech. To the extent that he has not insulted anybody or committed any crime, indeed, he is free to say what he wants to say. And if he insults anybody, he can be sued for defamation.
“As a citizen, he can also question public officers all the way to the president and ask questions of them. Article 41 of our constitution enjoins him to do that and public officers owe it to the citizenry to answer candidly, honestly and to the best of their ability and knowledge, using state resources, questions that are asked of the public offices,” he said.
Background:
Rev John Ntim Fordjour, MP for Assin South and the Minority’s Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, claimed in a press conference on April 1, 2025, that two flights; an air ambulance and a private jet, might have been involved in drug trafficking or money laundering.
He alleged that one of the aircraft, AirMED flight N823AM, landed in Ghana on March 20 and stayed for five days without any record of transporting a patient.
These allegations led President John Dramani Mahama to order security agencies to “immediately and fully collaborate with the honourable Member of Parliament so he provides all necessary information to investigate the allegations and take all action necessary to expose any drug dealing”.
President Mahama also directed all security agencies to work with Rev Ntim Fordjour to investigate the drug trafficking and money laundering claims involving the two suspicious flights at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
He emphasised that Ghana has a zero-tolerance policy for drug trafficking and will not allow the country to be used as a transit or final destination for illicit drugs.
On Wednesday, April 9, 2025, NIB officials stormed Ntim Fordjour’s residence to pick him up for questioning regarding his allegations.
However, the officers left the residence without arresting him following the intervention of leading figures of the New Patriotic Party including Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin.
BAI/AE
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