Atta Akyea questions continued detention of Baffour Awuah after EOCO searches

Lawyer for Manhyia South Member of Parliament Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, Samuel Atta Akyea, has questioned the decision by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to keep his client in custody overnight as investigators continue their interrogation.

Mr Atta Akyea said EOCO had indicated that the questioning would continue on Friday, October 2, but argued that Baffour Awuah should instead be allowed to go home and return to the agency the following morning.

He said his client had voluntarily reported himself to EOCO and had cooperated throughout the process.

“We were here at 11:00. Look at this hour. We’ve not finished,” Mr Atta Akyea said at the EOCO premises.

He questioned the need to detain the MP overnight when investigators already had access to the documents they were seeking.

“What is the value in detaining him overnight? What is the value to the state? When the man came here voluntarily, when he went to his office, was he resisting anything? The man is cooperating with you. Why do you want to detain him?” he asked.

Mr Atta Akyea said he intended to make the necessary calls to seek his client’s release so that he could return to EOCO the following morning if required.

He said Members of Parliament could provide an undertaking that Baffour Awuah would return for further questioning.

“Let some of the MPs sign that they will bring him tomorrow and they will come and continue the interrogation,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that EOCO had formally placed Baffour Awuah under arrest and that his lawyers could not simply remove him from the agency’s custody.

“We don’t have the lawful powers to wrest him from where he is. I wish I had it. But now he is in the premises of EOCO. Who am I to say that I’m taking him out of the grips of EOCO home?” he said.

The lawyer also rejected suggestions that his concerns were motivated by a desire to obstruct the investigation.

He said investigators had already obtained the documents relevant to their inquiry.

“Every document you need for this investigation, you have it already,” he said.

Mr Atta Akyea consequently questioned the rationale for keeping his client in custody.

“So apart from showing somebody where power lies and becoming very political about this matter, I can’t understand what is going on,” he said.

Asked whether he considered the investigation a political witch hunt, he said he could not determine whether there were political undertones but questioned the logic of the case.

“Without political undertones, I don’t see how seriously you go and arrest a lawyer who has, with the help of his client, entered into a bargain and signed. And the client has taken advantage under the terms of settlement and the lawyer suffers for it,” he said.

Mr Atta Akyea also said Baffour Awuah had not eaten or taken water while in custody.

He stopped short of describing the situation as a hunger strike, saying the MP was distressed by the circumstances.

“He’s not eating and he’s not drinking any water,” he said.

Mr Atta Akyea was also asked about the outcome of the searches conducted at Baffour Awuah’s office and residence.

He said the particular file EOCO was seeking had not been found at the residence because it had already been surrendered to the organisation he identified as the complainant in the matter.

“What they were looking for, they had it. And it was not in his house. They went to his office,” he said.

He explained that Baffour Awuah had told investigators that the file relating to his legal work for SIC Life had already been surrendered to the company.

“He told them that you’re looking for the file, the file that I worked on and I was paid by the third party, not SIC Life. The file is SIC Life. I’ve surrendered the file to the so-called complainant,” he said.

EOCO is investigating alleged unauthorised financial transactions involving SIC Life Savings and Loans Company Limited, with suspected offences including causing financial loss, dissipation of public funds and money laundering.

Baffour Awuah voluntarily reported himself to EOCO on Thursday, October 1, and was subsequently placed under arrest. EOCO has said he is cooperating with investigators, with further interrogation expected to continue on Friday.

The allegations against him remain subject to investigation and the ongoing legal process.