By Kwabia Owusu-Mensah
Kumasi, Oct. 02, GNA – The Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the NPP has described the continuous detention of the Manhyia South Member of Parliament (MP), Lawyer Baffour Awuah, by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), as reprehensible and affront to the rule of law.
It has therefore, appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to be cautious about the manner investigative bodies are being used to harass opposition elements including, NPP members in the country.
A statement signed by Dr Francis Adomako, Ashanti Regional Secretary of NPP and issued in Kumasi on Friday October 02, 2026, said the detention of Lawyer Baffour Awuah overnight was needless and an affront to the rule of law.
The statement said the regional executive and the entire members of the NPP in the Ashanti region are very concern in the manner in which EOCO is handling the case involving the legislator.
“We find this treatment not only reprehensible, but an affront to the rule of law: especially, given that the MP has not been found guilty of any of the charges leveled against him by EOCO.”
It said while the party fully recognized EOCO’s mandate to investigate matters concerning national security and the general conduct of public and private citizens, such investigations must strictly adhere to constitutional limits and the principles of natural justice.
“It is deeply troubling that after voluntarily presenting himself upon learning from the Deputy Attorney General that an arrest warrant had been issued, Hon. Baffour Awuah was subjected to treatment designed to humiliate him and demean the high office he holds,” the statement pointed out.
The party reminded the President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC government that, the path his appointees in state security agencies were charting was dangerous for the country’s democracy.
“We remind the President that, political power is transient.
Using state power to intimidate political opponents threatens national cohesion and sets a dangerous precedent that will inevitably backfire.”
The statement called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the Clergy, and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to condemn this blatant abuse of power before it escalated political tensions in the country.
In a related development, some people in the Manhyia south constituency in Kumasi have expressed grave concern about the continued detention of their Member of Parliament (MP) in EOCO custody.
Constituency members who spoke to the Ghana News Agency, said the detention was not only to intimidate the MP but also to prevent him from undertaking his lawful duty as a lawyer and legislator.
According to the constituents, the incarceration of the MP was politically motivated and an attempt to silence him from expressing his opinion on national issues.
They called on EOCO not to chart a path that could trigger political tension in the country.
They said the entire people in the constituency were solidly behind the MP and would not be intimidated by the attempt by the government to politically silence him from expressing his views on national issues.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei