New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman hopeful Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko has called on the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to release Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah on bail.
The MP voluntarily reported himself to EOCO on Thursday, October 1, accompanied by his lawyers, after the High Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
He was subsequently arrested and detained for further interrogation and remains in custody.
He is being investigated over alleged conspiracy, financial loss, money laundering and tax offences.
Reacting to this in a statement on Friday, October 2, Mr Agyarko said keeping the MP in custody is unnecessary and called for the investigation to continue while he remains on bail.
“A man who walks into an investigator's office of his own accord is not a flight risk. Keeping him in custody serves no purpose that reasonable bail cannot serve equally well," the statement read in part.
He said the MP had demonstrated his willingness to cooperate with the investigation by voluntarily presenting himself to EOCO.
Mr Agyarko also called for the investigation to be conducted in accordance with due process, the presumption of innocence and the protection of personal liberty.
He said investigative agencies must exercise their powers professionally and proportionately, while maintaining public confidence in state institutions.
“What we ask for is what every Ghanaian is entitled to under the 1992 Constitution: fairness, due process, the presumption of innocence and the protection of personal liberty," the former Energy Minister noted.
The developments follow an earlier confrontation between EOCO officials and Baffour Awuah at the Accra High Court on September 23, when officers attempted to take the MP into custody.
EOCO later said the action was part of efforts to secure his attendance after he allegedly failed to honour earlier invitations.
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Comments
Blame the NPP's institutionalized indiscipline and entrenched corruption for the massive stealing and looting of the state by its politicians. Today, Ken Ofori‑Atta has escaped to the United States after being implicated in the same financial crimes that crippled the nation. Instead of demanding that he return to Ghana to account for his actions, you are telling EOCO, an institution simply doing its job, that it is doing wrong in detaining someone.