Transnational Security Challenges and Statehood in Africa: A Case Study of Drug Trafficking in Ghana Andrews Atta-Asamoah Thesis Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Political Studies UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN Univeristy Mayof 2014Cape Town Supervisor: Associate Professor John Akokpari The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town DECLARATION I, Andrews Atta-Asamoah, hereby declare that the work on which this thesis is based is my original work (except where acknowledgements indicate otherwise) and that neither the whole work nor any part of it has been, is being, or is to be submitted for another degree in this or any other university. I authorise the University to reproduce for the purpose of research either the whole or any portion of the contents in any manner whatsoever. ___________________________ __________________________ ANDREWS ATTA-ASAMOAH DATE i" DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my parents, Mr. Stephen Anane and Madam Akua Serwaa, for their love and care. ii " ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to the Almighty God for His grace, provision and guidance throughout my education, particularly in the course of conducting of this study. I will forever be grateful to Him for being my shield and anchor in my daily pursuit of excellence and success. In an unpublished motivational piece to young people, I admonished them that vision bearers in many cases have mostly been loners, because society does not share visions but achievements. Over the years of this study, however, I have been forced to rethink this exhortation because of the enormous support and contribution from diverse people. Among these people, I wish to express my profound appreciation to my supervisor, Associate Professor John Akokpari, for his excellent guidance, insights, commitment to this project and the learning opportunity he offered me. Throughout the years of working with him on this study, he was not just a supervisor of an academic project but a mentor whose humility and simplicity to life have shaped me in diverse ways. I also thank my wife, Francisca Atta-Asamoah, and my lovely children, Benedicta Akosua Atta-Asamoah and Joel Akwasi Atta-Asamoah, for their love and care. I am grateful that they understood me each time I had to be absent from home even during festive occasions because of this study. I am thankful to my parents, Mr. Stephen Anane and Madam Akua Serwaa, for their care and encouragement throughout my education. Also, to Mr. Christopher Amoh for the outstanding fatherly care over the years. I am grateful to my siblings, Constance Anane Serwaa, Kwadwo Boakye (Agya) and Louis Atta-Wiredu, for the love and care. Without their support, I would not have made it this far in my academic life. God bless them for their sacrifices. I appreciate the mentorship of Dr. Kwesi Aning of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra and the many people who have variously motivated me to pursue further studies. I am indebted to my colleagues at the Institute for Security Studies, particularly Dr. David Zounmenou, Dr. Paul-Simon Handy and Dimpho Motsamai, for the support and advice in putting my thoughts into this study. I am extremely grateful to my colleague Dr. Gwinyayi Dzinesa for reading a draft of this study. I am also indebted to Debra Silva (Israel) and Alexis Danikuu who sowed seeds at certain points in my life to spur me on. This study would not have been possible without the support of the great people in the Department of Political Studies of University of Cape Town (UCT), particularly Professor Annette Seegers and Joanne Polzin, for their help in diverse ways. I am also grateful to the various experts and officers of the Ghana Police Service who made time out of their busy schedules to share their experiences and insights on the topic with me. Finally, to all my friends and loved ones for their contribution to who I am. Though I cannot name all of you, I do appreciate you and truly love you all. God richly bless you. However, any errors, omissions and misconceptions in the thesis remain entirely mine. iii " ABSTRACT From a point of very little knowledge about illicit drugs in the 1980s, Ghana has evolved over the last three decades into a major transhipment point in the global supply and demand of narcotics. Apart from the resultant rise in Ghanaians involved in trafficking activities and the consumption of narcotics, the prevalence of the phenomenon has suggested a growing interface between the country’s emerging political culture and drug trafficking trends. Taking advantage of the recent provenance of Ghana’s experience, this study investigates the cause-effect relationships in the onset and impact of drug trafficking, as a transnational security challenge to statehood in Africa. Following a thorough analysis of available quantitative and qualitative data collected from multiple primary and secondary sources, the study establishes the centrality of state weaknesses in the cause-effect relationships surrounding the onset and existence of drug trafficking in Ghana. It finds that the existence of Ghana in the confluence of the interaction between internal and external factors made it vulnerable to the activities of criminal networks exploring new routes to markets in the global North. Upon emerging, traffickers have sustained the country’s weaknesses, worsened them in some cases and also initiated new forms through narco-corruption, intimidation, infiltration and state capture. The study argues, among others, that the rise in drug trafficking, and organised criminality more broadly, is more of a symptom of existing weaknesses and structural fault lines in the state than an initiator of state weaknesses by itself. The onset and existence of transnational organised criminality is thus an important indicator of the existence of certain forms of state weaknesses as well as weakening factors requiring responses. The transnationalisation of security challenges in a given region requires the prior existence of a regional weakness complex. Organised criminals are thus opportunistic in their activities and merely capitalise on existing weaknesses of the state. By their weakening impact on state institutions, drug trafficking activities erode the functional and juridical attributes of the states by influencing citizen perceptions of the appropriateness of institutions and the legitimacy of the state. iv " LIST OF ACRONYMS ACP Assistant Commissioner of Police AFAG : Alliance for Accountable Governance AfDB The African Development Bank AFRC : Armed Forces Revolutionary Council ARQ : Annual Report Questionnaires ATS : Amphetamine-type stimulants BCEAO : Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest BNI : Bureau of National Investigation CCTV : Closed-circuit television CEPS : Customs, Excise and Preventive Service CID : Criminal Investigations Department CJA : Committee for Joint Action CPI : Corruption Perception Index CPP : Convention People's Party DCOP : Deputy Commissioner of Police DDR : Disarmament, demobilization and re-integration DCE : District Chief Executive ECOWAS : Economic Community of West African States EOCO : Economic and Organised Crime Office EU : European Union FATF : The Financial Action Task Force GBA : Ghana Bar Association GDP : Gross Domestic Product GNA : Ghana News Agency GPRTU : Ghana Private Road Transport Union GPS : Ghana Police Service GSB : Ghana Standard Board GT : Ghana Telecom HDI : Human Development Index IGP : Inspector General of Police IIAG : Ibrahim Index of African Governance IMF : International Monetary Fund INCB : International Narcotics Control Board INCSR : International Narcotics Control Strategy Report JFK : John F. Kennedy KAIPTC : Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre KIA : Kotoka International Airport v" LECIAD : Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy LSD : Lysergic acid diethylamide MAP : Muslim Association Party MFDC : Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance NACOB : Narcotics Control Board of Ghana NDC : National Democratic Congress NLC : National Liberation Council NLP : National Liberation Party NPFL : National Patriotic Front of Liberia NPP : New Patriotic Party NRC : National Redemption Council OAU : Organisation of African Unity PAIGC : Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde PCU : Container Control Programme PDA : Preventive Detention Act PNDC : Provisional National Defence Council PNP : People’s National Party PP : Progress Party REC : Regional Economic Community RED : Rot, Enclaves and Disengagement RSC : Regional Security Complexes RUF : Revolution United Front RWC : Regional Weakness Complex SALWs : Small arms and light weapons SAP : Structural Adjustment Programme SMC : Supreme Military Council TEIN : Tertiary Education Institutional Network TESCON : Tertiary Students Confederacy THC : High delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol UAE : United Arab Emirates UGCC : United Gold Coast Convention UNDP : United Nations Development Programme DPKO : Department of Peacekeeping Operations UNDCP : United Nations International Drug Control Programme UNODC : United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime WAEMU : West African Economic and Monetary