Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, the lawyer for former Presidential Staffer and New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team member Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) over what he described as "cruel and oppressive" bail conditions imposed on his client following his arrest and interrogation.

His comments came shortly after EOCO granted Mr Aboagye bail in the sum of GH¢50 million with three sureties, two of whom must justify the bond with landed property, on Monday night.

His bail follows hours of engagement between his lawyers and officials of EOCO after he was taken into custody on Sunday, July 12, 2026.

He was arrested as part of investigations into alleged financial and procurement-related irregularities at the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD), where he previously served as the executive secretary.

READ ALSO : Dennis Miracles Aboagye granted GH¢50m bail by EOCO

EOCO has said Mr Aboagye, together with former IMCCoD accountant Gerald Appiah and other unnamed persons, is being investigated over the alleged misappropriation, misapplication, diversion and theft of public funds amounting to about GH¢55 million.

According to the anti-graft agency, the investigation followed a petition submitted by the current executive secretary of IMCCoD requesting further enquiries into a forensic audit covering the period between August 1, 2022, and February 2, 2025.

Addressing journalists at the EOCO office in Accra, Mr Atta Akyea questioned both the severity of the bail conditions and the prolonged detention of his client, arguing that the terms effectively denied him the opportunity to regain his freedom.

"Look, you interrogate a man, and you are running for over four hours. Marking time, marking time until we got our turn. In the final analysis, the bail conditions are cruel and oppressive," he bemoaned.

The former Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South further contended that the constitutional rights of his client had been compromised.

"Look at this very hour. They are about to exceed the 48 hours as enshrined in the constitution. Where is this gentleman going to get, I mean, three sureties, 50 million as a bail sum?"

He argued that the requirement for two sureties to justify the bond with landed property valued at the bail amount made compliance practically impossible within the time available.

"...and then the properties should be worth 50 million, and two should post those properties. How are we going to do it? So you can see clearly that the bail terms are cruel, and it is a way to punish him some more."

Mr Atta Akyea insisted that the conditions amounted to punishment before any determination of guilt had been made.

"It's not possible for us to post these securities at this critical hour. And I can say that the rule of law is sitting outside now. This is very unfortunate."

The lawyer also questioned the necessity of arresting Mr Aboagye at the airport, maintaining that his client had consistently cooperated with investigators and had never attempted to evade the investigative process.

"How is he going to be released? How is he going to post the bail bonds? How is it going to do it? 50 million Ghana cedis, three sureties, two to be justified. It means two of them should post properties."

According to Mr Atta Akyea, EOCO had previously invited Mr Aboagye to assist with investigations, and he had honoured those invitations without hesitation.

He argued that there was no basis to suggest that Mr Aboagye posed a flight risk, particularly as he voluntarily returned to Ghana through the country's main international airport.

"So I believe that democracy and the rule of law have been reversed backwards. That a man who is not running away and is decent enough to go to the Kotoka International Airport... is arrested and detained all this while."

Mr Atta Akyea further criticised the manner in which his client was treated, saying the circumstances created the impression that he had been handled as though he were a dangerous criminal.

"I don't believe that is how we should conduct affairs. It is not proper. As if he were a common criminal, and I don't see common criminals coming through the Kotoka Airport."