COCAINE; More Revelations To Come

Ruby Adu Gyamfi

The hulabaloo over the recent arrest of Nayele Ametefe alias Ruby Adu Gyamfi in the United Kingdom on suspicion of smuggling US $5 million worth of cocaine is not likely to be over any time soon.

This is because the British security establishment has found a treasure of information which is pointing in all directions in the Ghanaian political establishment.

Sources close to the British security say that when Ruby was arrested she was carrying three mobile phones and four SIM cards.

These have become major sources of information for the investigators.

The records on one of her phones indicate that she made a telephone call to a very prominent Ghanaian politician on her arrival at the Accra International Airport for that fateful trip.

She called that same Ghanaian politician when the aircraft was about to take off and when it landed at the Heathrow Airport.

The phone records also show that whiles on the aircraft, Ruby called a prominent Ghanaian businessman to indicate that all was well with her.

Video clips of Ruby and her extremely influential friends from all the political stables have also been found on her phones.

Some of the videos are said to be extremely compromising.

There are credible reports that Ghanaian intelligence had good reason to place Ruby under surveillance for more than three years.

What the surveillance reveals has not been disclosed yet but there is talk about her more than friendly relations with a Member of Parliament.

Insider sources have confirmed that Ruby used the VIP lounge for her last trip to the United Kingdom in spite of the fact that she was not qualified to do so.

The Insight has learnt that the cocaine was delivered to her on the aircraft by a well placed official who is currently under arrest.

Editorial

COCAINE BUSINESS

The recent arrest of a Ghanaian woman in the United Kingdom for smuggling as much as US$ 5million worth of cocaine into that country has exposed the political class for what it is -nothing more than scum.

Ordinarily this arrest should have raised important issues about how the lady managed to escape security scrutiny at the Accra International Airport.

 We all as Ghanaians should have been deeply worried about the fact that the arrest tarnishes the image of every Ghanaian and shows that we may not be winning the war against drugs.

Unfortunately, the arrest has once more ignited the blame game between the New Patriotic Party (NPP)  and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the facts do not matter anymore.

Indeed a lot of the information circulating about this cocaine bust is nothing more than wicked fabrications calculated to do the most damage to political rivals.

The Ghanaian political class will exploit everything and anything including calamities for votes and this is disgraceful.

Those who have been manufacturing stories about this cocaine bust do the fight against narcotics in Ghana no good.

 All decent Ghanaians have a duty to help fight the narcotics business and it should not matter whether those involved come from the NPP or the NDC.

The fight against narcotics is on! 

No Drugs for Mental Patients

Some mental patients

More than 300 mental patients visiting Abura Dunkwa Psychiatric Hospital cannot access essential medicines, because they are either not available or expensive.

The hospital says supplies from government has ceased for almost a year and essential drugs for the patients are now being supplied by pharmaceutical companies which is expensive and beyond the reach of destitute mentally ill persons.

“We use to collect the medicines at Ankafo but for almost a year now government has not supplied the medicines and so some pharmacists supply them but it is expensive, many of our patients cannot afford and sometimes most do go back home,” Mr Alexander Turkson said.

Mr Turkson, who is the Abura-Aseibu-Kwamankese District Mental Health Officer, told Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of a community durbar organised by BasicNeeds Ghana and Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG) in conjunction with UKAID.

The durbar forms part of a four-year project implemented by BasicNeeds Ghana and MEHSOG to support government to build a national health system that effectively and efficiently respond to the mental health needs of the population.

Mr Turkson said the challenge facing mental health in the area is non-availability of medicines and urged the society not to disown mentally ill persons because they are suffering from any other sickness people go through, adding “it is as dangerous like Ebola Virus Disease which kills people within days”.

He said because the medicines are expected to be offered free the national insurance scheme does not capture it which poses a problem to quality health care for the patients.

Speaking on the theme: “Inclusion of people with mental illness and epilepsy in government social intervention programmes at the local governance level to enhance recovery, participation and reintegration for national development,” Mr Turkson expressed worry that more than 80 per cent of the mentally ill are being excluded from the government social intervention programmes, and pleaded for their inclusion.

He said: “We are pleading through the district chief executive that government social intervention programmes at the district levels such as the NHIA (National Health Insurance Authority) registration for vulnerable groups of people by ensuring that they enjoy the same rights as every other Ghanaian”.

He urged the assemblies to allow the mentally ill persons to enjoy the two percent common fund for persons with disabilities, livelihood empowerment against poverty and other social intervention programmes.

Credit: GNA

Central Region tracking fishermen against Ebola

A surveillance system to track and monitor fisher folks in   Central Region, who fish along Ebola affected countries in West Africa, has been instituted by  Ghana  Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with its partners.

The move is part of preventive measures put in place to prevent an outbreak of the disease in the country through its coastal border.

Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, Regional Minister, who made this known in Cape Coast, said Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the coastal areas have been instructed to collaborate with their health teams to screen all fishermen who enter the country by sea.

The MMDAS are also to place on high alert on the movements of such fishermen and subject them to screening.

Mr Quansah made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the opening of a trainer of trainer workshop on Ebola Case Management.

The three- day workshop is being attended by health personnel from GHS and teaching hospitals in Central and Western Regions.

Mr Quansah said there were two instances, during which a group of people entered the country, one by boat and the other through Paga border in Upper East Region.

He said all of them were rounded up and screened and are being monitored for the mandatory 21 days.

He said so far speculations about some cases of Ebola in the region had proved negative, while GHS is mounting educational campaigns on the viral disease.

Mr Quansah said the Regional Coordinating Council had constituted a Regional Ebola Preparedness Steering Committee, to spearhead regional integrated efforts with the view of preventing the disease and to contain the epidemic in the unlikely event of an outbreak.

He indicated that there are Regional Rapid Response Teams in place which consist of technical personnel from various relevant sectors committed to the course.

Mr Quansah said six  hospitals have been strategically positioned to hold themselves in readiness towards any eventuality while  the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Winneba Trauma and  Specialist Hospital  and Saint Gregory Hospital at Budumburam have been identified as holding centres in the region.

He said all hospitals in the region have been urged to indentify space to serve as isolation units for Ebola.

Mr Quansah called for the strengthening of infection control in the various hospitals   since about 25 per cent of infected people worldwide are health workers who got infected during the course of carrying out their professional duties.

“Our efforts to contain the potential Ebola epidemic in Ghana is showing preliminary signs of progress, but maintaining and extending these trends will require sustained efforts from us all,” he said.

Dr Samuel Kaba, Director, Institutional Care Department of GHS, said all the 10 regions have Ebola response teams, while the country has been divided into three zones with zonal training ongoing.

He said after the middle zonal team being the Ashanti Region has been trained and is in the process of training associated regions.

Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions have been trained.

Dr Kaba said the service would be training medical staff from neighbouring Burkina Faso, Togo, Cote D’voire and other volunteers to assist in combating the outbreak.

He said even though a lot has been done so far, there is still a lot more to be done to sensitise those in the remotest on the devastating nature of the disease.

He called on the private sector, civil society, religious and traditional bodies and non-governmental organisations to join the crusade against the disease.

Dr Samuel Quarshie ,Director, Regional Health Directorate noted that the workshop would enhance  preparedness to manage the disease  as well as  equip and  update participants with  relevant information  and skills  to improve  their capacity  for effective  service delivery .

This he said could be achieved through enhancing the quality of care given to clients and health workers leading to the improvement of safety.

He urged the health sector to use the threat of the disease to close the gap between public health and clinical care, strengthen the country’s surveillance system and improve infection prevention and control practices.

Dr Ernest Opoku, a Public Health Physician Specialist who chaired the opening expressed the need to put in place the right measures to curb the disease since it poses a huge threat to Africa.

Credit: GNA