The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, has stated emphatically that he will not resign over his British son-in-law’s alleged involvement in the drug trade.
The governor’s son-in-law, David McDermott, who has been married to his step-daughter, Ramona Wampah for three years, was on March 11, arrested in Ghana at his home in Accra’s affluent Burma Hills. According to UK officials, David McDermott, who has been working in Ghana’s mining industry, had been on the run for the past three years, for attempting to import cocaine into the UK.
I didn’t know my in-law was a drug dealer – Governor
In a statement released by Dr. Wampah when the fugitive’s relation to him was made public, he said he had no knowledge that David McDermott was a fugitive.
He said, “Until I received information about his arrest, I had absolutely no knowledge about David being a fugitive of the British government”. According to Dr. Wampah, he knew David to be a worker in the mining industry and was shocked about his arrest. “I have received news about the arrest of David McDermott, who is married to my step daughter, Ramona, with shock. David has been known to me as a worker in the mining sector and has been living in the country with Ramona since their marriage some three years ago,” He said.
David McDermott, of Ormskirk, West Lancashire, was being hunted by the National Crime Agency and was finally arrested on March 11 this year. The British High Commissioner to Ghana commended the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for the role they played in arresting McDermott. The National Crime Agency (NCA) on its official website said; “McDermott is suspected of being a member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in a conspiracy to import and supply cocaine which was seized from a container of frozen Argentinian beef in May 2013 at Tilbury Docks. He is also wanted for conspiracy to blackmail.” A process for his extradition to the UK for trial has commenced.
Following his in-law’s arrest, Mr. Wampah has been heavily criticized with some suggesting that he resigns.
I won’t resign
But the Governor responding to the calls for him to step down at a meeting to announce the new Monetary Policy rate said, “My son in law is my son in law; it has nothing to do with me being Governor of the Central Bank. I have made a statement on that and that should be enough for you. My term will end this year and I will let you know when am going so thank you.”
By: www.dailyviewgh.com
