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Presidential Aide, Stan Dogbe has accused the Kufuor administration of deliberately weakening the Narcotics Control Board [NACOB] since the party received funding from drug barons. Referring to leaked cables reported by international whistle blower website Wikileaks, Mr. Dogbe said the cables showed that the Kufuor administration �weakened NACOB to the extent that we�re told they appointed people to positions and weakened them so that they cannot do anything and names were mentioned. The former Deputy Chief Executive of FDB was sent to NACOB as Executive Secretary deliberately so that he cannot do anything.� On claims that the Wikileaks rather condemned the NDC administration�s handling of the narcotics trade, Stan Dogbe said �if you take the Wikileaks reports, all the ones that had to do with our time [the Mills administration time] were words of commendation for President Mills and his administration for efforts that they were making to ensure that the drug menace was curtailed in the country.� �The reference to the scanners� in the Wikileaks report, he said, was because President Mills said �I do not want any surprises, let people be scanned even in the VIP and as we speak, we have a scanner in the golden jubilee lounge now so as you know when we�re travelling from the golden jubilee lounge and bags are sent to the main Kotoka to be scanned, now the bags are scanned at the golden jubilee lounge and Wikileaks showed that beyond the party benefiting from such drug barons, the NPP administration under President Kufuor deliberately weakened NACOB.� He argued that �if he [Mills] did not trust them [Ministers] he would not have asked them to go through the check [scanners]. Because they [NPP] did not trust their own people as is evident in the report of the Operation Westbridge team that is why Kufuor never went through any of those scanners and his officials did not go through it.� According to him, a report by the Operation Westbridge revealed that they were frustrated under the Kufuor administration hence �they were going to leave�. The Presidential Aide also noted that the NPP took offence at warning issued by the Executive Director of NACOB not to allow drug money to be used to fund political campaigns because �they know what their record as far as Ghana�s situation in 2008 was. It was very clear. Wikileaks made it clear to us that the NPP benefitted from funding from drug barons.� NDC Activist, Felix Kwakye Ofosu who was also on the panel added that �I cannot imagine that a political party will take offence when an officer of the state whose mandate it is to ensure that the worrisome canker of drug trafficking in this country is dealt with, issues a firm and robust warning to persons who are desirous of using drug money to fund their campaign to desist from the practice and you have a political party taking offence at such a statement. I was at pains to appreciate exactly what informed the posturing of the New Patriotic Party.� According to him, �it was obvious to all Ghanaians even before we took over that the NPP did not pay attention to the [drug] menace. Indeed, there were instances where drugs came into this country and the security agencies were forewarned that the ship contained as many as 77 parcels of cocaine. The security agencies failed to apprehend the culprits involved in this particular dastardly act, the ship docked at our ports and it was possible for people to offload the cocaine and disappear with it, a commission was set up to investigate the matter and nothing came out of it.� Referring to the arrest in the United States of then NPP Member of Parliament, Eric Amoateng, for allegedly engaging in narcotics trafficking, the arrest of three women believed to be supporters of the NPP at the Kotoka Airport here in Accra and the disappearance of seized cocaine parcels from the Police headquarters, Felix Kwakye Ofosu said these were evident of the NPP�s lack of commitment to fighting the drug trade. According to him, following these developments, �one would have expected that being in government the NPP would initiate prosecutions to serve as a deterrent to others who may be desirous of engaging in a similar practice, [but] it did not happen.� Story by Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey/Multi TV/Ghana