Pursue drug kingpins, not political opponents — Afenyo-Markin tells EOCO

Minority Leader in Parliament, Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has challenged the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to intensify efforts to identify and prosecute the financiers and organisers behind Ghana-linked drug trafficking networks.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, October 1, the Effutu MP accused EOCO of placing undue focus on the arrest and investigation of opposition figures while, in his view, not demonstrating the same level of urgency in tackling major narcotics networks.

Afenyo-Markin’s comments came after EOCO detained the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, in connection with an ongoing investigation into transactions involving SIC Life Savings and Loans.

Baffour Awuah voluntarily reported to EOCO on October 1, accompanied by his lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, and other MPs, after the Accra High Court issued a warrant authorising his arrest and searches for documents relevant to the investigation.

EOCO had told the court it had exhausted reasonable means of securing his voluntary attendance.

Afenyo-Markin, however, questioned the manner in which the investigation and arrest had been handled, arguing that the Minority does not seek to interfere with the substantive investigation.

“We do not by this seek to prejudge the SIC Life Savings & Loans investigation. No one is above the law, EOCO included. But we believe the MP’s treatment forms part of a broader attempt to intimidate critical opposition voices,” he wrote.

He claimed that Baffour Awuah had referred EOCO’s earlier invitations to the Clerk of Parliament but that the agency had not recognised the correspondence.

The Minority Leader also questioned EOCO’s decision to seek an arrest warrant, saying it was unclear why the agency reportedly considered that it had exhausted reasonable means of securing the MP’s attendance.

“Hon. Baffour Awuah says he referred EOCO’s February invitations to the Clerk of Parliament, but EOCO refused to recognise correspondence from the Clerk. Nothing publicly available to us shows that EOCO subsequently approached the Speaker before seeking the warrant.

“On what basis, then, did it reportedly claim to have exhausted reasonable means of securing his attendance? It is regrettable that a false impression is being created that the MP deliberately avoided EOCO.”