Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has denied claims that he ordered the arrest of Manhyia South Member of Parliament, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah.
Mr Gbande said he only expressed interest in the case and urged the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to arrest the lawmaker if investigators deemed it 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, Mr Gbande questioned how the country had reached a stage where a citizen could openly challenge a law enforcement agency to arrest them.
“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.
Although he described the circumstances surrounding the attempted arrest as unfortunate, Mr Gbande argued that Mr Baffour Awuah, as both a lawyer and an MP, should have exercised restraint and honoured EOCO’s invitation.
“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,” he said.
According to Mr Gbande, several former government officials have appeared before EOCO to answer questions without turning the process 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.
He also rejected suggestions that the EOCO invitation was linked to Mr Baffour Awuah’s involvement in the Salomey Baffoe case or represented an attempt by the government to silence the lawmaker.
Mr Gbande maintained that the MP was aware of the invitation and should have appeared before EOCO to respond to questions from investigators.
“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.
He further criticised the MP for allegedly daring EOCO to arrest him, warning that such statements 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,” Mr Gbande said.
The NDC deputy general secretary also insisted that the party would not shield anyone found to have misappropriated state funds, even if the NDC were to lose political 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,” he stated.
