We demand immediate, unconditional release of Baffour Awuah from EOCO custody – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah from the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), accusing the government of using state power to intimidate opposition voices.

In a statement issued by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin on Thursday, October 1, 2026, the caucus said the MP's treatment was part of a broader attempt to silence critics of the government. It called on EOCO to redirect its energies towards pursuing drug barons and illegal mining networks.

"EOCO and NACOC must collaborate. Follow the money. Trace the assets. Pursue the kingpins," the statement said.

The Minority recounted that on September 23, after arguing a bail application for a detained nurse, Mr Baffour Awuah was confronted by an EOCO official seeking to arrest him. According to the MP's account, which was recorded on video, no warrant or identification was produced. The statement noted that a warrant was obtained a week later, with the court directing that it be executed through the Speaker of Parliament.

The caucus questioned EOCO's claim before the court that it had exhausted reasonable means of securing the MP's attendance. It said Mr Baffour Awuah had referred EOCO's February invitations to the Clerk of Parliament, but the agency refused to recognise correspondence from the Clerk. The Minority added that nothing publicly available showed EOCO had approached the Speaker before seeking the warrant.

"It is regrettable that a false impression is being created that the MP deliberately avoided EOCO," the statement said.

The Minority said the MP reported voluntarily to EOCO on Thursday with his lawyer and fellow MPs, but was kept waiting for hours before questioning began, raising what it described as serious concerns about fairness and the use of investigative power.

While stating that it did not seek to prejudge the investigation into SIC Life Savings & Loans, the caucus insisted that no one, including EOCO, is above the law.

The statement contrasted EOCO's pursuit of the MP with what it called inadequate action against drug trafficking. Citing a JoyNews Research tally, it said Ghana had recorded 11 cocaine cases in 28 drug busts since March 2025, with the seized cocaine estimated to be worth as much as $1.7 billion.

It also listed several major seizures linked to Ghana, including nearly 4,500 kilograms of cocaine found at the port of Amsterdam concealed in timber supplied by a Ghanaian company; about 3.9 tonnes of cocaine shipped from Ghana to Dunkirk; around 320 kilograms of methamphetamine found in a consignment of Ghanaian charcoal in Australia; and 3.3 tonnes of cocaine intercepted beneath sand in a tipper truck at Pedu Junction.

"Ghanaians want to know: who are the financiers, organisers and beneficiaries? Where is the comparable zeal of our security agencies in pursuing them?" the Minority asked.

The caucus also criticised the government's handling of illegal mining, questioning what had become of a July 2025 directive to investigate two NDC officials over galamsey allegations.

Beyond the MP's release, the Minority demanded an end to what it described as the misuse of arrest and prosecution to intimidate political opponents, as well as vigorous investigations into narcotics and galamsey networks, the tracing and freezing of suspected criminal assets, and public accountability for results.

It warned EOCO's leadership that "power is transient" and told the governing NDC that the Minority would not be harassed into silence.

"The Minority will continue holding this government to account. We will not bend the knee. The culture of silence is not coming back," the statement said.

Read full statement below:
EOCO MUST PURSUE THE KINGPINS, NOT PERSECUTE POLITICAL OPPONENTS

The public impression of the Government is increasingly one of a leadership that is shy of focusing on what matters but prioritises optics and, at the same time, is ultra-sensitive to criticism. A state that aggressively pursues a lawyer-legislator defending a victim of human rights abuse must, at the very least, show equal, if not greater, determination in fighting the drug barons using Ghana as a major global transhipment hub.

According to a JoyNews report of 1 October 2026, "Ghana has recorded 11 cocaine cases in 28 drug busts since March 2025, according to a JoyNews Research tally of seizures by NACOC, the National Intelligence Bureau, the Ghana Police Service and foreign authorities."

JoyNews Research estimates the total street value of the cocaine seized to be as high as $1.7 billion.

On 23 September, after arguing a bail application for a detained nurse, the MP for Manhyia South, Hon. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, was confronted by an EOCO official seeking to arrest him. According to his account, recorded live on video, no warrant or identification was produced. A warrant was obtained a week later, with the court directing that it be executed through the Speaker of Parliament.

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.

Today, 1 October, he voluntarily reported to EOCO with his lawyer and fellow MPs. He was kept waiting for hours before questioning began. This raises serious concerns about fairness and the exercise of investigative power. This NDC culture of using the coercive powers of the state to punish suspects should have been left behind with the other excesses of the PNDC era.

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.

Meanwhile, within 15 months, nearly 4,500 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of nearly $500 million, were seized at the port of Amsterdam, concealed in timber supplied by a Ghanaian company — the biggest ever such seizure at the port; nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine reached Dunkirk in a container shipped from Ghana; approximately 320 kilograms of methamphetamine, worth A$296 million, reached Australia in a consignment containing Ghanaian charcoal; and at home, 3.3 tonnes of cocaine were intercepted beneath sand in a tipper truck at Pedu Junction.

Ghanaians want to know: who are the financiers, organisers and beneficiaries? Where is the comparable zeal of our security agencies in pursuing them?

EOCO has statutory powers to investigate organised economic crime, trace criminal proceeds, and seek lawful asset freezes and confiscation. Ghanaians deserve a public account of how those powers are being deployed against narcotics networks.

Another priority for Ghanaians is the unprecedented surge in illegal mining. It is clear that the Government is more interested in the foreign exchange it earns from galamsey than the damage it causes to our environment and livelihoods. The President has acknowledged that people associated with his administration are involved and that there are "big fish who never get caught". What became of the July 2025 directive to investigate two NDC officials over illegal-mining allegations? Our rivers remain polluted while accountability remains elusive.

What we are witnessing is the golden age of impunity, epitomised by the surge in both galamsey and drug trafficking. Ghanaians are calling for a credible war on the drug trade.

EOCO and NACOC must collaborate. Follow the money. Trace the assets. Pursue the kingpins. The use of investigative power must also serve the public interest and be exercised fairly, regardless of political affiliation.

We demand:
1. The immediate and unconditional release of Hon. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah from EOCO custody.

2. An end to the misuse of arrest and prosecution to intimidate political opponents or suppress free expression.

3. Vigorous investigations into narcotics and galamsey networks, lawful tracing and freezing of suspected criminal assets, evidence-based prosecutions, and public accountability for results.

To EOCO's leadership: recognise that power is transient. Public authority carries responsibility, and accountability follows its exercise.

To the NDC: you will not harass us into silence. The Minority will continue holding this government to account. We will not bend the knee. The culture of silence is not coming back.

#EndThePersecution #ProsecuteTheKingpins