When an institution changes the rules after the game has started: The Legal Problem with Retrospective Administrative Directives in Ghana

Here is a question I often return to because it sits at the heart of fairness in public life: what happens when an institution changes the rules after people have already acted under the old ones?

In recent times, concerns have been raised in different academic spaces about universities issuing new administrative directives, sometimes on graduation requirements and sometimes on promotion criteria, and applying them retrospectively to students or staff who were already well into their programs.

At first glance, it may look like a simple administrative adjustment. But legally, it is far more serious than that.

In Ghana, the starting point is the Constitution itself. Article 23 requires that administrative bodies, including public universities, must act fairly, reasonably, and within the law. That single requirement carries significant weight in our legal system.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Awuni v. West African Examinations Council is often the clearest illustration of what fairness means in practice. WAEC cancelled students’ results without giving them a chance to be heard. The Court intervened decisively, holding that such action violated Article 23 and the principles of natural justice.

The message from that case is simple but powerful: when a public decision affects someone’s rights or future, fairness is not optional; it is mandatory.

Now apply that principle to a university context. A student enters a program under clearly published academic regulations. Those regulations are not informal suggestions; they are the legal and administrative framework that governs the student’s academic life.

If, halfway through that journey, the university increases graduation requirements and applies them to those already enrolled, the legal issue is not just administrative inconvenience. It becomes a question of constitutional fairness.

Another important doctrine comes into play here: legitimate expectation. This principle, developed in cases such as the UK’s GCHQ case and ex parte Coughlan, protects individuals who have relied on clear rules or consistent administrative practice by public authorities.

Put simply, if a university tells you through published regulations that 120 credits are required to graduate, you are entitled to organise your academic life around that standard. Changing it retrospectively disrupts more than planning; it undermines trust in public administration.

Ghanaian courts have also consistently affirmed that administrative action is not beyond scrutiny. 

In Republic v SSNIT & Attorney-General, Ex parte Ernest Thompson, the Supreme Court clarified that administrative decisions are subject to judicial review where they violate fairness, legality, or reasonableness. More recently, in Republic v Bank of Ghana, Ex parte Hoda Holdings Ltd. (2024), the Court reaffirmed Article 23 as the constitutional anchor for the review of administrative fairness.

Taken together, these decisions reinforce a consistent principle: public institutions must exercise power within constitutional limits, and fairness is one of those limits.

It is important to stress that universities are not prevented from changing rules. Academic standards evolve, and institutions must retain the ability to improve them. The legal concern arises not from change itself but from retroactive application without fairness, consultation, or transitional protection.

The courts generally recognise that individuals acquire certain expectations once they enter a program or employment structure. These expectations do not make institutions powerless, but they do require that changes be implemented in a manner that does not arbitrarily disadvantage those who relied on existing rules.

In legal terms, this is where concepts such as procedural impropriety, irrationality, and legitimate expectation come together. Where a retrospective directive disrupts vested academic progress without clear justification or transitional arrangements, it becomes vulnerable to legal challenge.

What remedies exist in such situations? Ghanaian law provides a robust framework through judicial review in the High Court. Affected persons may seek:

1. Certiorari, to quash the decision 

2. Declaration that the directive is unlawful or unconstitutional 

3. Prohibition, to stop enforcement 

4. Mandamus, to compel proper application of the original rules 

5. And in appropriate cases, damages for loss suffered 

These are not technical legal luxuries. They are safeguards designed to ensure that public institutions remain accountable to the people they serve.

Ultimately, this issue goes beyond universities. It speaks to a deeper principle of governance: predictability is part of justice. People must be able to arrange their lives based on rules that are stable, known, and fairly applied.

When institutions change the rules after the game has started, they risk more than legal challenge. They risk eroding the trust that makes public systems work in the first place.

And in a constitutional democracy like ours, that is not a small matter.

Fairness is not only a legal requirement; it is a public promise.

A Law at War With Itself: How Ghana's Drug Policy is Failing its Public Health Mission

When Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission Act (Act 1019) was passed in 2020, it was celebrated as a landmark piece of legislation. It promised a revolution in drug policy—a shift from the handcuffs of the past to the healing hands of public health. Yet, approaching six years later, a fundamental paradox lies at its core. While the law speaks the language of rehabilitation, its heart still beats with the pulse of prohibition.

The Act’s stated goals are progressive: to establish a dedicated rehabilitation fund and prioritize treatment and harm reduction over pure enforcement for low-level drug offences. But by attempting to be both a healer and a jailer, Act 1019 has created a legal paradox that traps the very people it claims to rescue. The Act's punitive core remains firmly in place, creating a framework that is fundamentally at odds with its own health-focused mission.

The preliminary findings of the 2025 Integrated Bio-Behavioral Survey (IBBS) provide stark evidence that "draconian" practices persist and are costing lives. It is a law in conflict with itself, and the most vulnerable are paying the price. As the distinguished drug policy scholar Dr. Joanne Csete observed, "Plainly, there is a chasm into which policies fall on the way from the rhetoric to the reality”. 

Four Surprising Realities of Ghana's Drug Law Reform:

1) A 'Public Health' Law That Criminalizes Patients

The fundamental contradiction within Act 1019 is that it attempts to walk in two opposite directions at once. The law mandates a public health approach while simultaneously criminalizing the health condition it is supposed to treat. According to section 3(i) of the Act requires the Narcotics Control Commission to "ensure that substance use disorders are treated as a public health issue. However, section Sections 41, and 45 of the same Act explicitly criminalize the personal possession and purchase of drugs.

This internal conflict forces the law to prosecute the exact individuals it seeks to help. Instead of establishing a "user-as-patient" paradigm, it reinforces the old "user-as-criminal" model, actively deterring people from seeking the very services the law supposedly supports.

2. The Human Cost of Flawed Legislation: Evidence from the Front Lines

The legal paradoxes of Act 1019 are not theoretical. They have failed to address a public health crisis with devastating real-world consequences, as revealed by data from the front lines. The 2025 IBBS, conducted by the University of Ghana School of Public Health, paints a stark picture of a health emergency among people who use drugs:

• HIV Prevalence: HIV rates among people who inject drugs have skyrocketed to 12.5%, compared to just 2% in the general population.

• Hepatitis C prevalence among people who inject drugs in certain regions is an alarming 12.7%.

• It is estimated that over 45% of people who use and inject  drugs are battling moderate to severe depression.

These statistics are a direct consequence of fear. Nearly 50% of surveyed individuals reported being harassed or arrested by uniformed officers in the last six months. This constant threat drives people underground, away from sterile needles, HIV testing and other life-saving services. The result is a hidden epidemic: it is also estimated that only 27.7% of HIV-positive people who use drugs are aware of their status. We cannot treat what we cannot find.

3) When Legal Ambiguity Becomes a 10-Year Sentence

A critical failure of Act 1019 is its refusal to define clear, quantified thresholds that distinguish personal use from trafficking. The law’s definition is dangerously vague, stating that possession for personal use is a quantity that does not exceed what "can reasonably be used by an individual in a day" (Section 113).

This ambiguity grants arresting officers’ immense discretion to decide whether an individual is a patient or a felon facing a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence. This creates fertile ground for inequity and corruption, as police can reportedly charge individuals with the more serious offense of supply if they refuse to pay a solicited bribe.

The devastating result of this legal grey area is not theoretical. During a focus group discussion in a study conducted in 2023,  one judge recounted being forced by the law to sentence a young woman to 10 years in prison. Her crime was sending a small amount of a drug to her boyfriend hidden inside a meal of waakye. What was a simple act of personal connection was twisted by a poorly written law into a life-changing prison sentence.

4) The 'Alternative' to Jail Is a Fine Too High to Pay

Act 1019 was praised for introducing non-custodial sentences, but the exorbitant fines render this alternative an illusion for most. However, the fine for possession for personal use is between GHS 2,400 and GHS 6,000. These figures are staggering when contextualized against the average monthly salary in Ghana of around GHS 3,700. If an individual cannot pay, they face imprisonment. By international standards, these penalties are exceptionally punitive: in Switzerland, for example, possessing a small amount of cannabis results in a simple administrative fine of ........ 

As one official from the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) bluntly stated, "The users liable to pay fines for use aren’t usually in a position to pay... It’s the poorer people who have no choice but to smoke in the slums, in the streets, and so on who get caught." The system has merely created a different pathway to imprisonment for the poor. 

5) A Flawed Path to Wellness: Punishment Before Treatment

The law's approach to rehabilitation contains a critical timing flaw. Under Section 45(5), the offer of treatment comes only after an individual has been prosecuted and convicted. A genuine public health model diverts people into the healthcare system instead of the criminal justice system, preventing the lifelong stigma of a criminal record. The current Ghanaian model is "punishment followed by an offer of treatment." It brands individuals as criminals first, creating immense barriers to future employment, education, and housing long after their sentence is served.

The Way Forward: Urgent Amendments to Save Lives:

To meet global goals to reduce draconian laws and stigma, Ghana must move beyond paper reforms. The following amendments are urgently needed to turn policy into life-saving practice, We need to:

1. Define the thresholds and fully decriminalize drug use: Parliament must urgently amend Sections 37, 41, and 45 of Act 1019 to specify drug quantities that distinguish personal use from trafficking. The ultimate goal should be the full decriminalization of possession and purchase for personal use; an approach aligned with recommendations from the the West African Commission on Drugs,  the whole United Nations system,  and the International Drug Policy Consortium,  among many others. Personal use should not be an offense at all.

2. Rethink sentencing: The passage of the Non-Custodial Sentencing Bill is critical to provide genuine alternatives to incarceration for petty offenses. This will reduce prison congestion, save national resources, and allow the justice system to focus on serious crime.

3. Protect and expand harm reduction services: The law must be clarified to legally protect the distribution of medical supplies like sterile syringes and naloxone. These are not "drug tools"; they are life-saving medical supplies essential to preventing overdose deaths and the spread of disease.

4. Sensitize agencies: Law enforcement and security agencies require mandatory training to view people who use drugs as patients in need of referral to health services, not as criminals to be arrested.

Conclusion:

Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 is a law in conflict with itself. It was adopted as a result of progressive, health-oriented aspirations but these are being undermined by a punitive legal core that continues to criminalise and punish the very people it seeks to help.

The 2025 IBBS data are more than just numbers; they are a mirror reflecting a public health crisis fueled by our own draconian laws. Ghana took a courageous first step with Act 1019, signaling an intent to treat drug use as a health issue. But now, it must complete the journey.

By amending the law to prioritize health and compassion, Ghana can create a coherent and effective drug policy one that saves lives by supporting its most vulnerable citizens and focuses its law enforcement resources on the organized crime that poses a true threat to public safety.

By: Maria-Goretti Ane- Loglo Esq, Africa Consultant for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), and a lawyer, health and ethics advocate, and drug policy analyst from Accra, Ghana. Contact: mloglo@idpc.net 

Ghana Strives for a More Humane Drug Policy


Recently, the government of Ghana proposed the Narcotics Control Commission Bill of 2017 (NCC) to replace the current Narcotic Drugs (Control, Enforcement, and Sanctions) Law of 1990 (PNDCL 236) that criminalizes all drug-related activities including drug use, possession, trade, and production. NCC aims to decriminalise drug consumption in Ghana. The initiative is a recognition of the grave impact on public health of the country’s current drug legislation, which imposes punitive sanctions on those engaged in the consumption, production, and trafficking. However, the ramifications of legal change could be felt beyond the country as Ghana could become a norm entrepreneur in the region for harm reduction policies.

Go to link http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/GDPOSitAnalysisJune2018Maria-GorettiAne.pdf

In Africa, the issue of Drug use is addressed with contempt and people who use drugs are treated as criminals who have nothing to offer society other than perpetuating crimes. Governments are at the forefront of this criminalization of people who use drugs and treat the victims with the firm arm of the law, yet there has not been any improvement on the issue despite the increasing number of arrests and incarceration of people who are in conflict with the law for drug offences. In an interview with Mrs Maria-Goretti Ane -Loglo, the African Consultant for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC); we discussed the current Drug policies and what can be done in Africa if indeed governments will want to win the so-called war on drugs. She analyzes Government approach on Drug use in relation to Human Rights and the activities of IDPC in creating awareness and influencing these Government policies to suit both the victims and society at large. Go to link http://glamsquadmagazine.com/maria-goretti-ane-loglo-speaks-on-idpc/

YOUTH PROMISE TO ADVOCATE FOR HUMANE DRUG POLICY IN GHANA

Until recently, the West Africa region has been perceived as only a transit zone of drugs from Latin America to European Countries Markets. This general perception started changing since June 2014 with the release of WACD flagship reports titled ‘’Not just in transit, drugs, the States and Society in West Africa’’.

Early 2013, Kofi Annan (Former UN General Secretary) conveyed the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) chaired by the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. The Commission comprised of commissioners from diverse background in West Africa such as politics, civil society, health, security and the judiciary.

After 18 months of research, looking at the evidence, consulting experts from the region and visiting some of the most affected countries and communities in the region, WACD in June 2014, released its flagship report, including a series of evidence-based recommendations for drug policies across the region.

The report shed lights on the impact of drug market in West Africa. According to the report, drug trafficking is a new threat to the development of West Africa. West Africa region is not only a transit zone of drugs from Latin America to Europe but also local production and consumption are on the rise which continues to be a major issue. Organised crime syndicates exist at all levels of society in West Africa and pose a threat to good governance, peace and stability, economic growth and public health in West Africa, a region that has only recently emerged from decades of violent conflict.

A pervasive situation that is corroborated with statics from the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Organisation on Drug and Crime (UNODC). According to the UNODC, the yearly reports on the world drug problem, the prevalence rate of cannabis uses in West and Central Africa combined (12.4%) is higher than Africa and the global average, 7.5% and 3.9% respectively.

In the above statistics, the youth mostly formed the majority of the affected population. Per the Narcotics Control Board Statistics, the youth in Ghana make up the majority of the drug user community particularly youth in the Junior/ Senior High Schools and tertiary institutions.

It is in light of this worrying situations and also, recognizing the specific needs of young people, and that they are more vulnerable to drug-related harms, the Ghana chapter of the West Africa Drug Policy Network (WADPN) set to increase the level of youth awareness and engagement on drug policy debates and calls for decriminalization and support for harm reduction measures in the region.

The initiative by WADPN-Ghana is also to strengthen youth advocacy in the area of Human Rights and Drug Policy Reform.

In view of these challenges, the West Africa Drug Policy Network, Ghana Chapter (WADPN-Gh) with support from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and in collaboration with civil society activist in the country recognized the need to bring together youth, particularly, students, and other stakeholders who are the most vulnerable to the dangers of drugs and the need for drug policy reform to trigger drug and policy reform debates and processes. The forum focused on various approaches to effectively respond to the drug challenges with possible commitments to educating them on the need to contribute to playing advocacy role, building their capacity on understanding Ghana’s  drug policy and how to engage with their institutions to develop effective campus based strategies and not the usual 'Just say No" to drugs and also  engaging policy makers and lobbying for drug policy reforms and finally sensitizing the public and communities about the impacts of drugs on democracy, governance and the society.

Present at the forum was the African consultant for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) who sensitized the groups about the current state of global drug policy as well as Ghana; and called on them to engender interest in advocacy and research among them. She further explained that, the youth forum was part of an advocacy within the region for evidence -based drug policy that is grounded on public health and human rights and to promote the active participation of young people in drug policy development by building the capacity of youth organizations to advocate for the rights of vulnerable people who use drugs.

Mrs. Loglo further called on the youth to join the advocacy platform for Humane Drug Policy for people suffering from problematic drug use and the need to engage in smart drug prevention programmes.

At the end of the program, the participants committed to a series of actions within their own communities including raising awareness of the rights of people who use drugs, involving community leaders, organizing social and health campaigns on drug use and facilitating activities in schools with teachers and students.

Leaders from the various youth groups pledged to called on the relevant authorities to promote the rights and inclusion of people who use drugs including establishing links between prisons, health services and civil society to ensure follow ups and continuation of services for people who use drugs after release from prison.

The day also saw the inauguration and birth of Youth Rise for Drug Policy Reform Ghana, a youth movement whose aim is to mobilize young people concerned with the impact of drugs and drug policies on individuals, families and communities in Ghana.  

SHAPING HUMANE DRUG POLICIES IN GHANA: A PROGRESS REPORT BY MARIA-GORETTI ANE

The drug policy debate is beginning to take shape in Ghana. What is fundamental is that the country’s policymakers have begun to put the debate on drug policy into practice and are making significant progress in developing and enforcing better drug laws.

Ghana is currently on the verge of decriminalising marijuana use to enable people who use drugs to freely access treatment. This was disclosed during the launching of a new report by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) , which listed Marijuana as the most abused substance in West Africa. According to the report, only one out of 18 of problematic drug users gets help as a result of the criminalization. Deputy Minister of Interior, James Agalga also gave hints that a bill will soon be presented to Parliament to address the issue on the decriminalising of marijuana.

Mr. Agalga also added that the current situation where only one out of 18 people receive treatment for suffering from problematic drug use is worrying and must be reversed.
This progressive move can be to the advocacy work carried out by the Ghana Chapter of the West Africa Drug Policy Network in 2015. The Networks’ success can largely be attributed to the capacity building support from International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), and the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI).

In June 2015, the Ghana Chapter of the drug policy network organised a stakeholders dialogue with sponsorship from the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) to commemorate the world drugs day and also to launch the "Support Don’t Punish" Campaign in the country. With the support of WACSI, this dialogue brought together stakeholders from civil society working to promote harm reduction, government institutions notably the Narcotics Control Board, Ministry of Interior, religious institutions, lawyers, ex-drug users and the media.

The main objective of the forum was to raise awareness among the major stakeholders on the critical need to stop criminalizing people for using drugs in Ghana.

The forum triggered discussions aimed at ensuring that the current Narcotics Control Bill in the country promotes the rights of people who use drugs and supports their rehabilitation, reintegration into society rather than being an enforcer of harsh sanctions that would devalue the usefulness of people who use drugs to society.

After the June 26th celebration, there was a need to meet with policy makers, notably parliamentarians, for civil society to provide some recommendations. A 3-day workshop of the Ghana Chapter of the West Africa Drug Policy Network and the Parliamentary Committee on Interior and Defence, with sponsorship from the Open Society Foundation grant (OSF), was organised from 4th-7th December 2015. This saw a breakthrough as harm reduction was accepted by the legislators as a critical aspect that needs to be included in the draft bill currently before parliament.

During this meeting, legislators admitted how beneficial and educative the workshop had been and expressed the need for more of such enlightening meetings. They admitted that civil society plays an instrumental role as government’s watchdog. In June same year, the network received about $5,000 from OSIWA through WACSI to carry out some advocacy programmes in the country. The Ghana Chapter organised its first ever media workshop for about 20 journalists in the country, engaged and conducted public awareness campaigns on the gaps within Ghana’s current drug laws, drug prevention, treatment and harm reduction as the engagement also sought to raise awareness for the SUPPORT DON’T PUNISH campaign and the consequences of the repressive drug laws on Ghanaians.

The network also developed a documentary entitled “SUPPORT DON’T PUNISH” which emphasised the need to give drug users the opportunity to seek treatment and rehabilitation instead of the continuous criminalization which only exacerbate their problem.

Beyond Ghana, multi-sectorial meetings were also organised in three countries, Benin, Ghana, and
Senegal and this led to a regional consultation in Ghana. The meetings were convened by WACSI, with support from OSIWA.

The regional consultation brought together over forty-one participants from eleven (11) West African
countries; Benin, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Guinea, Guinea-
Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia.
Participants were drawn from relevant sectors including Ministries of Health, Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs, National Inter-Ministerial Committees (IMC) on Drug Control, National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Police, National Human Rights Institutions, legal practitioners, commissioners of WACD and regional organisations, ECOWAS and UNODC, members of the West Africa Drug Policy Network in Ghana and civic activist

The meeting created an excellent opportunity for the countries to take a position as a sub-region for
UNGASS 2016 meeting. The deliberations climaxed with an acknowledgement by stakeholders that,
there is the need to take stringent measures to curb drug trafficking across the region. Participants
further called on governments of West African states to adopt policies to help drug users rather than
punish them.

Drug Policy in Africa-Towards a Human Rights -based Approach

The predominant drug control approach used around the world has been rooted in punitive criminal justice responses, at the expense of human rights and public health – with more resources being spent on police, judges, prosecutors and prisons now than ever before. Today, more people than ever are being imprisoned for producing, trafficking, selling or using drugs, and yet the problems remain unsolved: in the world today, there are more producers and consumers of drugs than ever before. The UNODC has openly identified a number of ‘unintended negative consequences’ of the so-called ‘war on drugs’, including severe human rights violations directly related to the criminalisation and stigmatisation of people who use drugs and vulnerable people involved in illicit drug production and trafficking.

This situation has led Paul Hunt (the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health between 2002 and 2008) to conclude that the UN human rights system and the global drug control regime behaved ‘as though they exist in parallel universes’. Global drug control is based on three international conventions from 1961, 1971 and 1988, which all open with a commitment to promote the ‘health and welfare of mankind’. Yet the 1961 and 1971 Conventions make no reference to human rights, and the term only appears once in the 1988 Convention in the context of crop eradication. As for the current UN human rights system, it dates back to the 1945 UN Charter, which is built on three pillars: human rights, peace and security and development. In Articles 55 and 56, the UN and its member states pledge to promote social development and universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. Three years after the Charter was adopted, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was also approved, outlining 30 universal rights that set ‘a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations’. Several decades later, in 1981, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (also known as the Banjul Charter) was agreed and has since been ratified by every African country except South Sudan. The Banjul Charter outlines more than 20 rights.

Current drug policies in Africa continue to be very repressive, with the widespread marginalisation and treatment of people who use drugs as criminals, morally weak ‘addicts’ and/or social outcasts; while non-violent low-level drug offenders generally make up the largest share of those sent to the criminal justice system. This approach has often exacerbated human rights abuses, such as ill-treatment and extortion by police, mass incarceration and arbitrary detention, in many cases without trial or due process. In recent years, the media in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone have documented incidents of people who use drugs being killed or injured by police officers during raids.

These issues require urgent redress across Africa. Both ECOWAS and the African Union have developed action plans on drugs which highlight the need to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. This IDPC advocacy note attempts to provide a non-exhaustive overview of how current drug policies violate universal human rights, and what a rights-based approach to drug policy looks like in practice, based on the Banjul Charter. 

You can access the entire advocacy note by following the link below;

http://idpc.net/publications/2017/04/drug-policy-in-africa-towards-a-human-rights-based-approach#.WQDDFi_uSyM.facebook