Accra, Jan 30, GNA- Nana Obiri Boahene, Minister of State at the Ministry of Interior, on Wednesday said the one year sentence each on the two British teen girls caught with six kilograms of cocaine at the Kotoka International Airport was too lenient even though the court acted within the confines of the law.
He observed that the one month to three years sentence proposed by the law for such juvenile drug offenders needed to be looked at again to ensure that stiffer and more deterring sentences were slapped on such offenders.
Nana Boahene who said these in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on Wednesday, indicated that whereas he was not questioning the verdict of the judiciary on the case, it would have been more deterring if they had been given the girls the maximum three year sentence.
Commenting on rumours that Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Boakye, former Director General of Operations of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), was still on the payroll of the GPS and was being sponsored to study law at the Law School by the GPS, Nana Boahene said he would check on the speculation and take the necessary action.
The Minister of State, however, confirmed that ASP Boakye was still in the Law School but he could not confirm whether his fees were being paid by the GPS.
Nana Boahene said he was aware that the Police Council held an emergency meeting recently but he was yet to receive a report on whether the issue about ACP Boakye was on the agenda.
He also expressed regret over the recent development in the GPS about the missing parcels of illegal drugs in the custody of the Police Criminal Investigation Department.
Nana Boahen said a committee had been set up to investigate the matter and his office would take the appropriate action if the report comes out.
He urged the public to consider the matter as the arrest of a bad nut in the GPS, just as there were bad nuts in every other profession, adding however that the matter was worrying. 30 Jan. 08
Source: GhanaWeb
