Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has detailed the circumstances surrounding the detention of Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah after he voluntarily reported himself to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

According to Mr Afenyo-Markin, the MP arrived at EOCO at 10:47 a.m. on Thursday, October 1, accompanied by his lawyers and some parliamentary colleagues, but was made to wait several hours before questioning began.

Speaking to the media on Friday, October 2, after visiting the MP in custody, the Minority Leader said Mr Awuah was initially told he would be seen within 15 minutes.

“That 15 minutes turned into some 3 or 4 hours. So, not until after 2 pm when EOCO officials finally invited him to the interrogation room,” he said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said the Manhyia South MP was then made to wait for another 30 minutes before being asked to complete a personal profile form.

According to him, EOCO officials subsequently left, saying they needed clearance from the Director of Operations. He said investigators later returned and asked Mr Baffour Awuah to provide an overview of a case his law firm handled for SIC Life in 2018.

“He complied,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said, adding that the process of providing the overview ended at about 4 p.m.

It was at that point, he said, that EOCO officials informed the MP that he was under arrest.

“They officially tapped his shoulders and said he was under arrest. So, to them, it was at 4 pm after all of that that they effected an arrest,” he said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said EOCO subsequently took Mr Awuah to his law office in Dzorwulu for a search.

He said the MP cooperated with the search but alleged that some documents unrelated to the investigation, including vehicle documents, were taken.

“So, no document was taken in relation to the case under investigation,” he said.

According to the Minority Leader, the MP returned to EOCO at about 7:30 p.m. and was again taken to an interrogation room, where he waited for about an hour.

He said investigators later informed Baffour Awuah that they needed to undertake further work and would therefore detain him.

The MP was subsequently taken to the cells at about 8 p.m., despite protests from his lead counsel, Samuel Atta Akyea.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said the following morning, investigators informed Baffour Awuah that a team would be assembled to begin a second phase of the process, with the expectation that the MP could secure bail by midday.

He said, however, that no investigator attended to him until after 2 p.m., when EOCO indicated that it wanted to search his residence.

Mr Baffour Awuah’s detention forms part of an ongoing EOCO investigation into transactions involving SIC Life Savings and Loans. The MP reported himself to the agency on October 1 after the Accra High Court issued a warrant for his arrest.

The investigation has been linked to suspected financial loss, dissipation of public funds and money laundering, although the allegations remain under investigation.

Mr Afenyo-Markin’s account comes as the Minority continues to raise concerns about the manner in which the MP has been treated by EOCO.