A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Department of Political Science, Dr Joshua Ebuntie Zaato, has criticised the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) over its handling of the arrest of Dennis Miracles Aboagye, accusing the agency of failing to properly justify its actions.
Dr Zaato argued that EOCO’s own explanation suggested that Mr Aboagye had cooperated with investigators, yet the agency still arrested and detained him.
He also raised concerns about what he described as the growing use of strict bail conditions by state investigative bodies, claiming such measures could be used to target individuals facing investigations.
“There is a question we have to ask about state coercive agencies, about state investigative agencies. In recent times and especially since this government came into power, have these agencies weaponised bail conditions to punish political opponents or to punish people under investigations? The answer is yes,” he said.
Dr Zaato said EOCO’s statement on the matter showed that Mr Aboagye, who previously served as Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD), was aware of the investigation and had cooperated with the agency.
According to him, EOCO failed to provide any evidence showing that Mr Aboagye posed a flight risk or had refused to assist investigators.
“EOCO demonstrated their own incompetence and how lazy they are in this particular case, and it is contained in their own statement they released,” he stated.
The political science lecturer questioned why EOCO arrested Mr Aboagye at the Accra International Airport when he had returned to Ghana voluntarily despite knowing that he was under investigation.
“You have a citizen doing what every patriot must do to cooperate with state agencies… He willingly came back knowing that he is being investigated. So what was the reason for picking him up in that Rambo style and keeping him there for three, four days?” he asked.
Mr Aboagye, who served as an aide to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 presidential candidate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, was arrested after arriving in Ghana from an overseas trip.
A court has since granted Mr Aboagye bail of GH¢50 million with three sureties, including two who must be justified.
