British Cocaine Girls Down with Malaria
Kweku Asare, Accra, Ghanadot

Three months after their arrests at the Kotoka Internatioinal Airport in Accra, Yetunde Diya and Yasemin Vatansever, the two British school girls accused of trying to smuggle £300,000 of cocaine out of Africa have both been struck down by malaria.

The two16-year olds were rushed into hospital over the weekend after falling ill with fevers and flu-like symptons.


The two girls according to the prosecution both accepted 3,000 pounds and a free holiday in return for "carrying a package" last June out of Ghana . But immigration authorities were alert to their duties and apprehended them.

A Narcotics Control Officer in Accra on Saturday assigned to the girls confirmed the weak state of the two girls saying, the two girls have been very unwell - they are weak and listless."


British tabloid, The Sunday Mirror has been up in arms in support of the two girls saying they are being held in squalid conditions in between court appearances.


“Their concrete cell is in a narcotics department building surrounded by open sewers - the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes which carry the disease that kills three million people a year.”

The current edition of the paper said they are only allowed out for a daily shower, court appearances and - now - weekly trips to the hospital for treatment.

Authorities in Ghana denied the allegation when Ghanadot made contacts on the matter saying they are treated just like anyone else.
It is however, an open secret that prisoners and persons on remand are in very deplorable state with skin rashes all over them. They are also known to have very unkempt cells with water mixing freely with urine and sewage. Indeed, some journalists and people who have had the unpleasant experience of being in jail or police custody have confirmed this to Ghanadot, saying, “It’s not a pleasant experience.”

A visit to the Nsawam Medium Security Prison and the Borstal Institute in Accra confirmed the story.

Yetunde Diya and Yasemin Vatansever both students from North London, were arrested at the end of June as they tried to board a British Airways flight from Ghana to London .

Each of them had with her a laptop bag with 7lbs of cocaine stashed in secret pockets of the bag.

They have both pleaded not guilty to drug smuggling.

The Sunday Mirror in July was the first paper to gain access to the girls.

The trial has been adjourned to the second week of October where if convicted, they could face up to three years in jail in Ghana .

There are however, speculations that the two girls may never serve a jail term in Ghana with talk of political maneuvering rife in the air.

Kweku Asare, ACCRA , September 23, Ghanadot.com





 

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