Instead of intimidating political opponents, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) must go after the kingpins behind the drug trade, the Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has said.
He said that within 15 months, nearly 4,500 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of nearly $500 million, were seized at the port of Amsterdam, concealed in timber supplied by a Ghanaian company — the biggest ever such seizure at the port; nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine reached Dunkirk in a container shipped from Ghana; approximately 320 kilograms of methamphetamine, worth A$296 million, reached Australia in a consignment containing Ghanaian charcoal; and at home, 3.3 tonnes of cocaine were intercepted beneath sand in a tipper truck at Pedu Junction.
“Ghanaians want to know: who are the financiers, organisers and beneficiaries? Where is the comparable zeal of our security agencies in pursuing them?” Afenyo-Markin wrote on Facebook
He was commenting on the arrest and detention of the Manhyia South Member of Parliament, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, by officials of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
The detention of Mr Baffour Awuah followed a search of his office by EOCO officials.
EOCO urged the general public to allow its officers to conduct investigations into allegations leveled against the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, without speculation.
This is contained in a press statement that confirmed the arrest of the legislator upon surrendering himself to the anti-graft agency.
“The Office will continue to pursue all relevant lines of inquiry, examine the available evidence and afford all persons involved their rights under the Constitution and applicable laws.”
But in a Facebook post, Afenyo-Markin said “We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Hon. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah from EOCO custody.
“An end to the misuse of arrest and prosecution to intimidate political opponents or suppress free expression. Vigorous investigations into narcotics and galamsey networks, lawful tracing and freezing of suspected criminal assets, evidence-based prosecutions, and public accountability for results.”
Below is his full statement…
EOCO MUST PURSUE THE KINGPINS, NOT PERSECUTE POLITICAL OPPONENTS
The public impression of the Government is increasingly one of a leadership that is shy of focusing on what matters but prioritises optics and, at the same time, is ultra-sensitive to criticism. A state that aggressively pursues a lawyer-legislator defending a victim of human rights abuse must, at the very least, show equal, if not greater, determination in fighting the drug barons using Ghana as a major global transhipment hub.
According to a JoyNews report of 1 October 2026, “Ghana has recorded 11 cocaine cases in 28 drug busts since March 2025, according to a JoyNews Research tally of seizures by NACOC, the National Intelligence Bureau, the Ghana Police Service and foreign authorities.”
JoyNews Research estimates the total street value of the cocaine seized to be as high as $1.7 billion.
On 23 September, after arguing a bail application for a detained nurse, the MP for Manhyia South, Hon. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, was confronted by an EOCO official seeking to arrest him. According to his account, recorded live on video, no warrant or identification was produced. A warrant was obtained a week later, with the court directing that it be executed through the Speaker of Parliament.
Hon. Baffour Awuah says he referred EOCO’s February invitations to the Clerk of Parliament, but EOCO refused to recognise correspondence from the Clerk. Nothing publicly available to us shows that EOCO subsequently approached the Speaker before seeking the warrant. On what basis, then, did it reportedly claim to have exhausted reasonable means of securing his attendance? It is regrettable that a false impression is being created that the MP deliberately avoided EOCO.
Today, 1 October, he voluntarily reported to EOCO with his lawyer and fellow MPs. He was kept waiting for hours before questioning began. This raises serious concerns about fairness and the exercise of investigative power. This NDC culture of using the coercive powers of the state to punish suspects should have been left behind with the other excesses of the PNDC era.
We do not by this seek to prejudge the SIC Life Savings & Loans investigation. No one is above the law, EOCO included. But we believe the MP’s treatment forms part of a broader attempt to intimidate critical opposition voices.
Meanwhile, within 15 months, nearly 4,500 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of nearly $500 million, were seized at the port of Amsterdam, concealed in timber supplied by a Ghanaian company — the biggest ever such seizure at the port; nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine reached Dunkirk in a container shipped from Ghana; approximately 320 kilograms of methamphetamine, worth A$296 million, reached Australia in a consignment containing Ghanaian charcoal; and at home, 3.3 tonnes of cocaine were intercepted beneath sand in a tipper truck at Pedu Junction.
Ghanaians want to know: who are the financiers, organisers and beneficiaries? Where is the comparable zeal of our security agencies in pursuing them?
EOCO has statutory powers to investigate organised economic crime, trace criminal proceeds, and seek lawful asset freezes and confiscation. Ghanaians deserve a public account of how those powers are being deployed against narcotics networks.
Another priority for Ghanaians is the unprecedented surge in illegal mining. It is clear that the Government is more interested in the foreign exchange it earns from galamsey than the damage it causes to our environment and livelihoods. The President has acknowledged that people associated with his administration are involved and that there are “big fish who never get caught”. What became of the July 2025 directive to investigate two NDC officials over illegal-mining allegations? Our rivers remain polluted while accountability remains elusive.
What we are witnessing is the golden age of impunity, epitomised by the surge in both galamsey and drug trafficking. Ghanaians are calling for a credible war on the drug trade.
EOCO and NACOC must collaborate. Follow the money. Trace the assets. Pursue the kingpins. The use of investigative power must also serve the public interest and be exercised fairly, regardless of political affiliation.
We demand:
1. The immediate and unconditional release of Hon. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah from EOCO custody.
2. An end to the misuse of arrest and prosecution to intimidate political opponents or suppress free expression.
3. Vigorous investigations into narcotics and galamsey networks, lawful tracing and freezing of suspected criminal assets, evidence-based prosecutions, and public accountability for results.
To EOCO’s leadership: recognise that power is transient. Public authority carries responsibility, and accountability follows its exercise.
To the NDC: you will not harass us into silence. The Minority will continue holding this government to account. We will not bend the knee. The culture of silence is not coming back.
