Transnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghana

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dc.contributor.advisorAkokpari, Johnen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAtta-Asamoah, Andrewsen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-05-04T07:02:50Z
dc.date.available2015-05-04T07:02:50Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractFrom a point of very little knowledge about illicit drugs in the 1980s, Ghana has evolved over the last three decades into a major transhipment point in the global supply and demand of narcotics. Apart from the resultant rise in Ghanaians involved in trafficking activities and the consumption of narcotics, the prevalence of the phenomenon has suggested a growing interface between the country’s emerging political culture and drug trafficking trends. Taking advantage of the recent provenance of Ghana’s experience, this study investigates the cause-effect relationships in the onset and impact of drug trafficking, as a transnational security challenge to statehood in Africa. Following a thorough analysis of available quantitative and qualitative data collected from multiple primary and secondary sources, the study establishes the centrality of state weaknesses in the cause-effect relationships surrounding the onset and existence of drug trafficking in Ghana. It finds that the existence of Ghana in the confluence of the interaction between internal and external factors made it vulnerable to the activities of criminal networks exploring new routes to markets in the global North. Upon emerging, traffickers have sustained the country’s weaknesses, worsened them in some cases and also initiated new forms through narco-corruption, intimidation, infiltration and state capture. The study argues, among others, that the rise in drug trafficking, and organised criminality more broadly, is more of a symptom of existing weaknesses and structural fault lines in the state than an initiator of state weaknesses by itself. The onset and existence of transnational organised criminality is thus an important indicator of the existence of certain forms of state weaknesses as well as weakening factors requiring responses. The transnationalisation of security challenges in a given region requires the prior existence of a regional weakness complex. Organised criminals are thus opportunistic in their activities and merely capitalise on existing weaknesses of the state. By their weakening impact on state institutions, drug trafficking activities erode the functional and juridical attributes of the states by influencing citizen perceptions of the appropriateness of institutions and the legitimacy of the state.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationAtta-Asamoah, A. (2014). <i>Transnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghana</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12705en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationAtta-Asamoah, Andrews. <i>"Transnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghana."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12705en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationAtta-Asamoah, A. 2014. Transnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghana. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Atta-Asamoah, Andrews AB - From a point of very little knowledge about illicit drugs in the 1980s, Ghana has evolved over the last three decades into a major transhipment point in the global supply and demand of narcotics. Apart from the resultant rise in Ghanaians involved in trafficking activities and the consumption of narcotics, the prevalence of the phenomenon has suggested a growing interface between the country’s emerging political culture and drug trafficking trends. Taking advantage of the recent provenance of Ghana’s experience, this study investigates the cause-effect relationships in the onset and impact of drug trafficking, as a transnational security challenge to statehood in Africa. Following a thorough analysis of available quantitative and qualitative data collected from multiple primary and secondary sources, the study establishes the centrality of state weaknesses in the cause-effect relationships surrounding the onset and existence of drug trafficking in Ghana. It finds that the existence of Ghana in the confluence of the interaction between internal and external factors made it vulnerable to the activities of criminal networks exploring new routes to markets in the global North. Upon emerging, traffickers have sustained the country’s weaknesses, worsened them in some cases and also initiated new forms through narco-corruption, intimidation, infiltration and state capture. The study argues, among others, that the rise in drug trafficking, and organised criminality more broadly, is more of a symptom of existing weaknesses and structural fault lines in the state than an initiator of state weaknesses by itself. The onset and existence of transnational organised criminality is thus an important indicator of the existence of certain forms of state weaknesses as well as weakening factors requiring responses. The transnationalisation of security challenges in a given region requires the prior existence of a regional weakness complex. Organised criminals are thus opportunistic in their activities and merely capitalise on existing weaknesses of the state. By their weakening impact on state institutions, drug trafficking activities erode the functional and juridical attributes of the states by influencing citizen perceptions of the appropriateness of institutions and the legitimacy of the state. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - Transnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghana TI - Transnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghana UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12705 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12705
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationAtta-Asamoah A. Transnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghana. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2014 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12705en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.titleTransnational security challenges and statehood in Africa: A case study of drug trafficking in Ghanaen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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