Mr. Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, NACOC Director-General
By Ernest Addo, at large at NACOC
It is like watching satire, except that good satire requires a grain of truth, but at the Narcotic Control Commission (NACOC) headquarters in Accra, there has been none since the management of the anti-drug agency decided to introduce uniforms to the staff.
Details, backed by pictorial evidence emerging from the Director General of the state’s anti-drug commission, Kenneth Adu Amanfo’s spirited attempt to put officers and personnel of his outfit in uniform are heartrending.
At issue are concerns about security, cost of the uniform, rationale for the choice of colours of the uniform, and the mandate of NACOC officials and as an entity, which about 90% of the staff who oppose the uniform policy say have not been addressed.
For instance, the staff say the cost of the uniforms are too high, considering that they were required to cough up between GHc5320 as officers at the rank of CNCO and GHc4760 for the rank of ANCOII, which is the least rank for the senior officers.
For the Junior ranks, they are supposed to purchase the uniforms at between GHc4510 for CNDOs and GHc3740 for ANDOs; depending on one’s rank (published).
Aside the high cost of the uniforms, NACOC staff are also up-in-arms about the security of their personnel, arguing that given the nature of their job-chasing and arresting drugs- big or small, it would not be prudent to make them easy targets for drug cartels who could easily identify them because of their uniform.
They are also questioning the rationale behind the choice of the wine colour for the ceremonial dress, the white, and wine and beige coloured camouflage for their daily routines, when nothing about drug fight relates to the wine colour.
While the concerns had still not been addressed, the Director General, through the human resource directorate, on 20 May, this year, at 9: 05am, “instructed that, effective Monday 20 May, 2024 all Officers who have purchased the prescribed Commission’s uniform should commence usage. All others are being encouraged to acquire the uniform from GAFI (Burma Camp) …”
Per the arrangement, documents in the possession of this paper reveal that officers in Bono East and Ahafo were to locate GAFI office at Sunyani, while those at the Western Region were to purchase their uniforms at Aprando 2BN Ghana, “Army Officers can equally purchase on behalf of another by giving the correct sizes to the officers purchasing for him/her.”
As quickly as the uniform policy was implemented, however, the DG under mysterious circumstances, in another memo to everyone, dated 14 June, 2024 at 11:38am, directed that “Officers are being informed to suspend wearing of the NACOC Uniform with immediate effect.”
Since the imposition of the uniformed was halted, The New Crusading GUIDE is informed, that now the directors of the various departments of NACOC are allegedly, intimidating, threatening, and coercing the staff to wear the uniform to give an impression that they are rather pushing to wear the uniforms and not the DG who is shoving it down their throat.
“Promotions are due and what we are gathering is that each staff’s promotion is hinged on whether the person, being you officer or personnel, purchased the uniform when the arbitrary directive was given,” a distraught NACOC staff told this paper at the gates of their headquarters.
Meanwhile, officials are tight-lipped at NACOC, not ready to speak to the press under the excuse that they do not have authorisation to speak to the press and that as and when the greenlight is given, they would provide explanations for the decision to make NACOC staff wear uniform.
Stay tuned as this paper goes into the wild to bring readers to speed on who supplied the uniforms, the circumstances under which the supplier got the contract, and the losses the supplier and NACOC incurred since a minister came to the rescued of the workers.
