Don't politicise MV Benjamin case

Page 38: Daily Graphic, August 13, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A FORMER Minister of National Security, Mr Francis Poku, has advised Ghanaians, particularly media practitioners, to stop politicising the MV Benjamin case.
He said the blame game which had characterised the MV Benjamin case since 2006, was damaging the country’s image and not that of individuals.
In an interview from his London base, Mr Poku said there had never been any evidence of state-sponsorship in narcotics or government involvement in narcotic dealings.
He reminded Ghanaians that there was only one President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, who had access to every piece of information if he so desired.
He said if after accessing the information available to him, President Mills decided to call for further investigations, so be it, saying that “please allow him to take the decision to open investigations into any matter he so desires”.
According to him, what was going on in the media was not the best for the country as it sent wrong signals to the international community.
Mr Poku said narcotics and terrorism were serious issues that were not being taken lightly by the international community and for people to paint a picture that the state was involved in narcotics was a serious matter.
He said no single individual had come up with any evidence of any government involvement and yet the picture was often created as if there was state involvement.
He said what was going on in the media only represented the work of lobbyists who wanted to paint the persons they represented as innocent or having been wronged.
Mr Poku said there had been any cover-up in the either the MV Benjamin saga or any other case.
He said the institutions and the personnel who were involved in the various narcotic cases were still around, who could be contacted anytime to throw more light on any issue.
According to him, the Narcotics Control Board and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), which were involved in such cases, had come far in the midst of operational challenges and must, therefore, be supported to perform better.
He said if anything went wrong in any case, Ghanaians should not think that it was peculiar to Ghana.
Mr Poku said even in established countries with sophisticated machinery, things go wrong in some of their investigations.
“In such cases, what is important for us as a nation, is help address those challenges, look forward and not to destroy the institutions or stigmatise regimes when things go wrong,” he said.
On his alleged involvement and support for drug traffickers particularly Colombians, Mr Poku denied it.
“If I were involved in anyway, I could not have done it without state institutions and the personnel. The institutions and the personnel are all there, why not contact or verify the allegations,” he said.
Mr Poku said he was not so much worried about his reputation as that of the country, saying that “they are damaging the national image and reputation and not mine”.
He cited the case of Ms Grace Asibi as an instance when a journalist informed him (Poku) that her life was in danger.
“As expected of me, I called the head of the Protection Unit at the National Security, Mr Dodoo, to take over. Does that mean that I was conniving with drug dealers. What if I did not act on the information and she was killed, what would be the accusation against me?” he asked.
Mr Poku said although the Georgina Wood Committee requested that he gave evidence in camera, he opted to make it public.