Treaty Adherence in Africa
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol,
1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Chad
Chad is party to the 1961 Convention only (unamended) . For ratification of the 1988 Convention, it was
reported that an Interministerial Committee was in the process of being established.
Cote D'Ivoire
Cote d'Ivoire is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol,
1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Egypt
Egypt is party to the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the 1971
Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is party to the single convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 and the 1971 convention on
psychotropic substances (Report 1991).
The Ministry of Health, through its pharmaceutical department, exercises all control measures to
reduce the supply and demand for drug and thereby limit the use of drugs exclusively for medical and
scientific purposes. In cooperation with the police force and customs administration, the ministry
endeavors to prevent illicit drug cultivation, production, manufacturing, trafficking and abuse (Report
1991).
Taxes are levied on khat marketing and trafficking (EFDR 1993).
Gabon
Gabon is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol and to
the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
Ghana
Ghana is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, 1971
Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Ghana participates actively in UN international meetings on narcotic drugs, receives assistance from
the UNDCP, and maintains active contacts on narcotics issues with the British, Canadian, German, and
United States diplomatic missions in Accra (INCSR 1993).
The 1931 U.S.- U.K. extradition treaty was reaffirmed between the United States and Ghana and was
implemented in 1958. The treaty covers 27 extraditable offenses, including drug trafficking (INCSR
1993).
Kenya
Kenya is party to the 1961 Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol and the 1988 Convention.
Legislative and administrative measures for the control of psychotropic substances are limited and not
enforced effectively. Under these circumstances and given the reports that licit drugs are traded in
market places without prescription, diversion of licit drugs from the pharmaceutical industry is likely
(INCB 1992; Wasunna and Wasunna 1973 in Acuda, S.W. and Yambo, M. 1983).
Mali
Mali is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, but not to its 1972 Protocol or the 1971
or 1988 UN Conventions (INCSR 1993).
Mauritius
Mauritius is party to the 1961 Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol and the 1971 Convention. It
is a signatory to the 1988 Convention.
Most of the drug control legislation is based on the international conventions, such as:
1) The Pharmacy Act 1983, Act 60 of 1983- 1 january 1985 regulates the sale and use of pharmaceutical
products.
2) The Psychotropic Substances Act, 1974, which prohibits dealings with hallucinogens, diversion of
prescription drugs and order treatment for consumers and offenders.
3) The Dangerous Drug Act 32, 1986 amended latest by act 1 of 1992, which prohibits and restricts use
of narcotics, provides for forfeiture of assets and provides heavy penalties and even death sentence
for illicit trafficking in drugs (Mission 1993).
Morocco
Morocco is party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (ratified on December 7th, 1966), to
the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances (ratified on February 11th, 1980), and to the 1988
Convention against Illicit Traffic of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
The United States of America and Morocco signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in 1983; it
was ratified by the U.S.A. in 1984, but still awaits Moroccan ratification. In 1989, Morocco and the
U.S.A. signed a bilateral narcotics cooperation agreement in compliance with the Chiles Amendment. The
agreement provides for cooperation in the fight against illicit production, trafficking, and abuse of
narcotics. Morocco also has bilateral anti-narcotics or mutual legal assistance agreements with the
EC, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK, and is a member of Interpol (INCSR 1993).
Namibia
Namibia is not Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, to the 1971 Convention on
Psychotropic Substances, nor the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances.
A project of two years duration, the "Assistance in the Drug Prevention and Law Enforcement Sectors",
initiated in March 1994, is in process of implementation by the Ministry of Health and Social Services
and UNDCP. The objective of the project is to strengthen control of prescription and dispensing of
psycho-active substances by improving the knowledge of medical practitioners, pharmacists and
veterinarians, thereby, reducing demand for these substances (EFDR 1993).
Nigeria
Nigeria is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the
1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic of Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
There are 31 regional Drug Abuse Control Committees within Nigeria. Membership of the Committees
includes representatives from the Ministries of Health, Education, Information, Youth and Sport, as
well as from non-governmental organization (NGOs). The Drug Abuse Control Committees offer a key
coordinating agency for State action on drug abuse. All relevant local government departments are
usually represented, with the Ministry of Health normally taking the lead (Preventive Education 1992).
Rwanda
Rwanda is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and to
the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
Senegal
Senegal is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the
1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
South Africa
South Africa is party to the 1961 Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol and the 1971 Convention.
For the 1988 Convention, drug-related legislation was drawn up in 1991 to be tabled during the 1992
parliamentary session. Furthermore, the Drug Advisory Board, a statutory mechanism to coordinate all
Government authorities involved in implementating the provisions of the 1988 Convention and thereby
expedite accession to the Convention, was established. The Committee will establish how and in which
section the provisions of article 12 will be performed. Within the South African Narcotics Bureau, a
money-laundering and a chemical unit, were created.
Sudan
Sudan is party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic
Substances, and the 1988 Convention.
Sudan recently signed cooperative agreements with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey for fighting drug
trafficking (INCSR 1993).
Uganda
Uganda is Party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the
1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Narcotics enforcement is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, which also has
responsibility for other severe medical threats, such as malaria and AIDS (INCSR 1993).
Four Ugandan law enforcement officers received anti-drug training in the U.S. in 1990 (INCSR 1993).
United Republic of Tanzania
United Republic of Tanzania is not party to any of the international drug control treaties. Proposals
were submitted to Governments in 1991 with a view to acceding to the 1988 Convention and the other two.
Zambia
Zambia is party to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic
Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is party to the 1961 Convention as amended, the 1971 Convention and the 1988 Convention.