The Herb: Colonial Policing Should Have No Place in Postcolonial Africa.
ANTI COLONIALISMAFRICAABOLISH CANNABIS PROHIBITION
PEKI-DZAKE, Ghana — The Ghana Police Service has destroyed several cannabis farms in the Peki-Dzake enclave of the Volta Region following an intelligence-led operation targeting illicit cultivation. Conducted on July 9, the exercise involved about 60 officers from several specialized police units. Authorities said mature cannabis plants were cut down and burned on site, while those tending the farms escaped into the surrounding terrain before officers arrived.
The operation was led by Chief Superintendent Mick Omari Boakye, Volta Regional Crime Officer, alongside DSP Richard Dotsey Gablah of the Regional Drug Law Enforcement Unit. Regional Police Public Affairs Officer Chief Inspector Francis Gomado said the raid formed part of ongoing efforts to dismantle cannabis cultivation networks operating in the region. It follows a June operation by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), which reported the seizure of more than 2.3 tonnes of suspected cannabis and the dismantling of a processing site in the Volta Region.
The continued destruction of cannabis farms illustrates the persistence of a prohibition strategy that has done little to eliminate cultivation while placing cultivators in recurring conflict with the state. As more African countries explore regulated cannabis industries, recognize traditional medicine, and confront the colonial origins of prohibition, the debate is shifting from eradication toward governance. Sustainable reform will depend on frameworks that distinguish community cultivation from organized criminal activity, uphold religious and cultural rights, and allow cannabis to contribute to rural livelihoods, public health, and African economic self-determination.