According to him, Ghana would not have gone to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for US$3 billion bailout for three years, when the cultivation of cannabis could generate that in a year.

“Mr Speaker if we were not disturbed by this judgment we were projected to earn $3 billion from cannabis cultivation in 2023. We would not have gone to the IMF for that $3 billion because $3 billion a year is what we would have achieved in 2023 yet we have gone for $3 billion for three years,” he said on Wednesday’s proceedings in parliament.

“There is an urgency to consider this amendment to make sure that Ghana is not left out of this move of the whole world that considers narcotics issues as public health issues and will not miss the industrial value of it, we will not miss the medicinal value of it, and the economic value of it and accordingly, it is an urgent matter that needs to be dealt with.

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, had earlier mentioned that legalizing the use of cannabis for industrial and medicinal purposes would generate high revenue for the country.

The Supreme Court in a majority 5-4 decision affirmed its view that the law allowing cultivation of weed in Ghana was unconstitutionally passed by Parliament.

The court in July 2022 struck out Section 43 of the Narcotics Narcotics Control Commission Act, Act 1019.

This provision stipulated that “the Minister on the recommendation of the Commission, may grant a licence for the cultivation of cannabis popularly referred to as ‘wee’ in Ghana, which is not more than 0.3 % THC content on a dry weight basis for industrial purposes for obtaining fibre or seed for medicinal purposes.”

However, the Apex court annulled this provision and declared that it is a violation of Article 106 of the 1992 constitution.

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According to him, the directive shows the high level of professionalism and integrity of the IGP and the entire police service.

“I believe that we have a professional Police service led by a very professional IGP, he goes by the rules. These are Police operations purely and we don’t interfere with that. We do know that the situation must be such that nobody feels intimidated and those rules apply to all of us.”

IGP Dampare indicated that bodyguards of MPs and other state officials will not be allowed to carry weapons during the bye-election.

The directive comes after a crunch meeting between the leadership of the Ghana Police Service, political parties and the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) on Monday, June 26, 2024.

The IGP, who led the police at the meeting, issued the directive to the bodyguards asking them to surrender their weapons which will be kept at police stations within the constituency.

He further directed that the weapons can only be collected after the election and specific directives.

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