If you lived through and closely followed the major news of late April 2006, you must be very familiar with the MV Benjamin cocaine case.
But if not, the details of the case have it that on April 26, 2006, intelligence gathered by some security operatives indicated that a shipping vessel, the MV Benjamin, carrying about 77 parcels of cocaine, was on the high sea, heading towards the West African Coast, specifically Ghana.
Around midnight of the same day, the vessel docked at Tema/Kpone and discharged the parcels, which were offloaded into a waiting vehicle and taken away, the GNA reported.
Investigations led to the arrest of some people, who were tried and convicted, with further investigations revealing that the main suspect in the case, Christian Sheriff Asem Darkey, chartered the vessel for $150,000 to bring another vessel carrying the narcotic drugs from Guinea, which were off-loaded onto MV Benjamin on the high seas, and the name of the vessel changed.
In 2008, however, parts of the cartons of cocaine that had been seized and kept away at the narcotics section of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) strangely disappeared.
And this case became a defining test case for one of the most celebrated police officers in Ghana, COP Kofi Boakye; who recently retired from the service after over 30 years.
How Kofi Boakye became involved in the case:
Two years after the big bust, news spread to the effect that the cocaine, then in the possession of the police, had gone missing.
This led to the inauguration of the Georgina Wood Committee on July 4, 2006, to investigate the circumstances that had led to the scandal.
The Committee was tasked to, first, determine the facts leading to the suspected loss of 77 parcels of cocaine imported by sea and, second, determine the allegation of bribery levelled against some senior police officers in respect of the seizure of 558 kilogrammes of cocaine from an East Legon house.
It completed its sittings on September 5, 2006, and found out that the cocaine was owned by four people who had masterminded its importation and discharge. They were Sheriff, Captain Hwak of Adede2/MVBenjamin, Chief Engineer Cui Xian Li, and Kwak Seong, aka Killer.
The committee recommended the prosecution of four persons: ACP Kofi Boakye, Kwabena ‘Tagor’ Amaning, Issah Abass, Kwabena Acheampong, and Mohammed Moro.
Consequently, the trial of some of those persons began, and on November 28, 2007, Tagor and Abass were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each, with hard labour for conspiracy and engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs.
In an August 3, 2006, report by the Statesman and republished on GhanaWeb.com, it said that Kofi Boakye, who was at the time, ACP Boakye, Director of Operations at the Ghana Police Headquarters, was implicated in a secret audio recording.
The recording, which is more than an hour long, is believed to have been taken at the residence of the police chief.
In it, the voices of some four suspects: Tagor, also known as Kwabena Amening; Alhaji Issah Abass, a Tema-based businessman; Kwabena Acheampong; and Kojo Ababio, all businessmen, are heard discussion the missing drugs.
The men were also heard talking about persons bringing in some ‘goods’ which were said to be on the high seas, the report added.
Except Alhaji Issah Abass, who complained about the clarity of the voices on the tape, although he could identify his voice and that of the other witnesses in the case, all the parties admitted their voices were on the tape.
Ironically, his voice was the loudest and the most voluble. Kwabena Acheampong’s voice was also clear, though he was more reticent, suggesting that the tape might have been situated somewhere between the two men.
The Georgina Wood Committee concluded its investigations and established in its report that Kofi Boakye’s conduct adversely affects the image and integrity of the police service and the country as a whole.
Although he was directed to proceed on leave – which lasted for a period of four years as investigations into the case proceeded, in 2009, the late former President of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills, ordered for a recall of the police chief from his leave.
He, however, also ordered for a service enquiry into the conduct of Kofi Boakye, taking note of the findings of the Georgina Wood Committee of 2006, relating to abuse of office, corruption, professional misconduct and unsatisfactory service.
On his reinstatement, Kofi Boakye became the Head of the Education Department of the Ghana Police Service.
AE/OGB
Kofi Boakye was the Director of Operations of the Ghana Police Service at the time