Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has stopped a proposed parliamentary inquiry into recent major narcotics seizures linked to Ghana, ruling that the motion could overlap with matters currently before the courts.
The ruling was delivered during Parliament’s emergency sitting on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, following consideration of a private members’ motion seeking an investigation into the seizures and circumstances surrounding the consignments.
Speaker Bagbin said his decision followed an assessment of the motion’s proposed terms of reference, ongoing investigations, pending court proceedings and Parliament’s constitutional oversight responsibilities.
According to him, several of the issues the proposed inquiry sought to investigate were substantially similar to matters that the courts are expected to determine.
He said allowing Parliament to proceed could require the House to examine transactions, assess the conduct of individuals and institutions and determine the reasons behind decisions taken at Ghana’s ports of entry.
“The combined effect of undertaking this evaluation, assessment, and investigation would be, at the end of the day, to determine the very issues that the Court of Competent Jurisdiction is supposed to determine,” the Speaker said.
Mr Bagbin also warned that conducting the inquiry while the judicial proceedings were ongoing could potentially prejudice the interests of parties before the courts.
His ruling effectively prevents the motion from proceeding in its current form, although it does not amount to a determination of the underlying allegations surrounding the narcotics seizures.
The Speaker relied on Standing Orders 5, 6 and 103, Sub-Rule F, in declaring the motion inadmissible.
“I therefore rule, pursuant to Standing Orders 5, 6, and 103, Sub-Rule F, that the Party Member’s motion is inadmissible,” he declared.
The motion had been brought amid heightened public and parliamentary attention to major drug seizures involving consignments linked to Ghana and questions about the country’s role in international narcotics trafficking.
The ruling means that, for now, the issues directly connected to the pending judicial proceedings will remain within the appropriate legal processes rather than being subjected to a parallel parliamentary investigation.
