Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has denied ordering the arrest of Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah.
He said he only expressed interest in the case and asked the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) boss to ensure that the lawmaker was arrested if necessary.
“I did not say that I ordered the arrest of the Manhyia South MP. I said he should do well to arrest him. I was interested in the case because we shouldn’t get to a point where people feel they can overpower government institutions,” he said.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, Mr Gbande questioned how the country had reached a situation where a citizen could challenge a law enforcement agency to arrest him.
“How did we get to a point where a citizen can tell an enforcement agency, ‘I dare you to come and arrest me’? It’s a bad practice that we have gotten to a point where MPs are being subjected to this,” he said.
He acknowledged that the manner in which the attempted arrest unfolded was unfortunate but argued that Mr Baffour Awuah, as a lawyer and Member of Parliament, should have exercised restraint and honoured the invitation from EOCO.
“However wrong the mode of arrest was, the lawyer owed it to himself the duty to apply superior emotional intelligence. As an MP, if you are invited, go there,” Mr Gbande said.
According to him, other former government officials have appeared before EOCO without turning the matter into a public confrontation.
“Other past government officials are answering to EOCO and no one has heard. Why is it when it got to his turn he ran to go and do a press conference?” he asked.
Mr Gbande also dismissed claims that the invitation was connected to Mr Baffour Awuah’s involvement in the Salomey Baffoe case or that the government was seeking to silence him.
He said the MP was aware of the EOCO invitation and should have appeared before the agency to respond to whatever questions investigators had.
“The spectacle with the EOCO official was unfortunate, but after that I expected him to go to EOCO. Why would you wait until an order is procured for your arrest?” he asked.
Mr Gbande further criticised the MP for allegedly daring EOCO to arrest him, saying such comments could undermine the authority of state institutions.
“After he said he was daring EOCO, I think no one should tell a security agency that. It is not good. EOCO might not have been right in the action, but where a citizen wants to disrespect the issue too, we should speak about it,” he said.
He also insisted that the NDC would not protect anyone found to have stolen state funds, even if the party were to lose power.
“The law is the law. Jail me if you think I have stolen state money when we go into opposition. I will never defend anyone who steals government money when we leave office,” Mr Gbande stated.
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