Parliament has questioned the continued detention of the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), saying his voluntary appearance before the investigative agency should have raised questions about the necessity of keeping him in custody.
In a statement issued by the house , the Director of Media Relations at Parliament, David Sebastian Damoah, said the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, considered the circumstances surrounding the MP’s detention a matter of serious concern.
The statement followed the MP’s voluntary appearance at EOCO after reports that the High Court had issued a warrant for his arrest. The court had directed EOCO to enforce the warrant against him.
Parliament, however, said the Speaker had not yet seen the terms of the court’s directive and therefore would not seek to interpret it.
“Once the Member voluntarily presented himself to EOCO and submitted to its processes, any decision to continue holding him in custody ought to have a clear and demonstrable basis in law and necessity,” the statement said.
The development comes amid an ongoing EOCO investigation involving transactions connected to SIC Life Savings and Loans.
The MP’s lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, has said EOCO formally charged his client with offences including money laundering and causing financial loss to the state. EOCO, however, has urged the public to refrain from drawing conclusions about the MP’s culpability while investigations continue. (MyJoyOnline)
Parliament invokes constitutional safeguards
Parliament stressed that MPs were not above the law and that where a legislator was reasonably suspected of committing an offence, the law must take its course.
It said, however, that MPs did not act solely in their personal capacities and that the law recognised safeguards governing interactions between Parliament and other organs of state.
According to Parliament, those safeguards were not intended to shield MPs from accountability but to protect the independence of Parliament and the mandate given to legislators by their constituents.
It said the power to arrest or detain was a serious coercive power of the State and must be exercised lawfully and reasonably, with due regard to constitutional rights and human dignity.
Parliament was particularly concerned about the overnight detention of Baffour Awuah, who, it said, had voluntarily reported to EOCO and, as far as it understood, had cooperated with the process.
It argued that where the purpose of securing a person’s attendance had already been achieved through voluntary appearance, continued detention should not become routine or punitive.
“If the warrant or a court order required the Member to be brought before the High Court, every reasonable effort should have been made to place him before the Court at the earliest lawful opportunity,” Parliament said.
Review of procedures
Parliament said the Baffour Awuah case was not the first occasion on which questions had arisen over the arrest, detention or prosecution of a sitting MP.
It said it would examine the existing constitutional and statutory framework governing the arrest, detention and prosecution of sitting legislators and, where necessary, consider appropriate legislation.
The objective, it said, would be to ensure that accountability and due process were maintained alongside the independence and effective functioning of Parliament.
Parliament also called on state institutions and public officials to exercise coercive powers with restraint and fairness and to respect constitutional rights.
The Speaker further cautioned against a cycle in which conduct was defended merely because similar conduct had occurred under a previous administration.
“A political opponent is not a political enemy,” the statement said.
Parliament consequently urged that all matters concerning Baffour Awuah be handled strictly in accordance with the Constitution, the law and applicable court orders, while respecting his rights and avoiding unnecessary interference with the constitutional work of Parliament.
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