The Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has explained why the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) attempted to arrest the Manhyia South Member of Parliament (MP), Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, last weekm before obtaining a warrant from the High Court on Wednesday (Sept 30).
He said the EOCO officer who approached the MP at the High Court in Accra on September 23, 2026, initially went there to invite him to the agency, but the situation later became an attempted arrest when the officer prevented him from leaving.
He was speaking in a Joy FM interview on Thursday [October 1, 2026], a day after the High Court granted EOCO a warrant to arrest the MP and authorised the agency to search for and seize documents relevant to its investigation.
The court has directed that the warrant be executed through the Speaker of Parliament.
The explanation comes amid questions over why EOCO attempted to arrest the MP on September 23 before obtaining the court warrant on September 30.
Initial invitation
Dr Srem-Sai said the initial interaction between the EOCO officer and Baffour Awuah was an invitation and not an arrest.
“If you watch the video, there was no doubt from the beginning that it was an invitation,” he said.
He explained that a person who was invited to the agency was free to attend voluntarily and was also free to leave.
He said the situation changed when a law enforcement officer prevented the person from leaving.
“And if you’re able to break out of that confinement, that becomes what we call an attempted arrest,” he said.
EOCO had earlier confirmed in a statement issued on September 23, 2026, that its officers had attempted to arrest Baffour Awuah at the High Court complex.
The agency said the action followed two invitations issued to the MP in February 2026, which he had not honoured.
EOCO also said the operation was abandoned after its officers assessed that continuing could endanger public safety.
Asked why EOCO had not obtained a warrant before the September 23 incident, Dr Srem-Sai said the process had already begun.
He said the process started “way back” the previous week and indicated that it began around Monday.
The High Court issued the warrant on September 30, 2026, after EOCO told the court that it had exhausted reasonable means of securing the MP’s voluntary attendance.
