Shut Up Or Be Arrested – Minority Accuses Government of Targeting MPs Over Cocaine Probe

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has accused the government of using state security agencies to silence Members of Parliament demanding an investigation into how tonnes of cocaine are leaving Ghana’s ports undetected.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, 23rd September 2026, the Caucus accused the Economic and Organised Crime Office and the National Signals Bureau of moving against a nurse, her lawyer, and the MP leading the push for a parliamentary inquiry into how tonnes of the drug keep leaving Ghana’s ports.

“The Minority Caucus has received that message, and we reject it completely,” the statement said.

It called the day “a dark and sad day in the history of our Republic.”

Chaos at the courthouse

Hon. Nana Adjei Baffour Awuah, MP for Manhyia South, had just stepped out of the High Court, Criminal Division. He is counsel for Madam Salomey Awiti Bafoh, a nurse arrested earlier this month. He had been arguing for her bail.

A woman claiming to be an EOCO officer confronted him inside the court precincts. According to the statement, she “presented no proper identification” and physically blocked him from reaching his vehicle.” Lawyers and bystanders stepped in. The statement says “she resorted to force.”

“If a lawyer can be seized at the courthouse door for representing a client, the constitutional right to counsel of one’s choice becomes worthless,” the Minority said.

“The courthouse must be a sanctuary of justice, never a hunting ground for the State.”

The bizarre political drama started on Saturday, 12th September 2026. Officers of the National Signals Bureau turned up at Madam Bafoh’s home in Hansua, Techiman, at about 11:00 PM.

She is a nurse accused by this government of “abetting the publication of false news” — a misdemeanour.

“Why was an intelligence agency deployed at night against a citizen over a speech offence?” the statement asked. “Under what statutory authority does the Bureau arrest civilians in matters of this kind?”

The Minority says s Madam Salomey Awiti Bafoh was kept from her lawyers and family until she was transferred to the Police CID Special Investigation Unit on Tuesday, 15th September. She did not see a court until Wednesday, 16th September. More than four days.

“The forty-eight-hour rule is not a guideline. It is a constitutional command, and it was broken,” the statement said, citing Article 14(3) of the 1992 Constitution.

When she finally appeared at Circuit Court 1 at Adenta, her legal team had “no notice and no charge sheet.” She was remanded for two weeks.

The Minority pointed to the Community Service Act, 2026, which President John Dramani Mahama signed on 26th August — seventeen days before her arrest — as a law the Government itself sold as a way to keep minor offenders out of prison.

“The Government cannot preach non-custodial justice in its legislation and practise custodial punishment in its prosecutions,” the statement said.

EOCO issued its own release later on Wednesday. The Minority called it “an embarrassment to the institution and an insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians.”

It noted the release “could not even render correctly the name of the Member it set out to arrest.”

The Minority raised objections.

EOCO, it said, still has not said what offence is under investigation, whether any warrant exists, or from which court. “An agency confident in the legality of its conduct produces its authority. It does not hide behind the phrase ‘ongoing investigation.”

It also admitted the operation “escalated” and that officers pulled back because further action “would have endangered public safety.”

It was EOCO that brought that danger to the precincts of the High Court.

And EOCO now says two people who intervened are “being assessed” for further action. “Having failed to arrest counsel, EOCO now turns its threats on those who stood beside him. This is intimidation extended, not justice pursued.”

Why now?

On 10th September, French authorities seized about 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the Port of Dunkirk. It had left Ghana in a container of plastic waste. The statement lists others: more than 3.3 tonnes at Pedu Junction in March 2025; 866 parcels at a Tema Harbour warehouse in August 2026; 320 kilogrammes of methamphetamine seized in Australia in June 2026, traced back to Ghana.

Eight days later, on 18th September, Minority Members formally asked the Speaker to recall Parliament. They cleared the fifteen per cent threshold under Article 112(3) and Order 53. The Speaker acknowledged receipt. Parliament must now be summoned within seven days, and sit within seven days of that.

Hon. Awuah signed that request. He is one of the Minority’s lead strategists on the cocaine file.

“EOCO had seven months to pursue its February invitations,” the statement said. “It chose to act within days of the constitutional deadline for recalling Parliament, against a signatory to the recall request and one of the Members leading the Minority’s strategy for accountability, and at the moment he stepped out of court having argued for the liberty of a detained citizen.”

“The Minority does not claim to know EOCO’s motives. We say only this: when a State agency moves against a Member of Parliament at the very moment he is pressing the Government to account for a national security crisis, the burden falls on that agency to prove that the timing is innocent. EOCO’s release does not even attempt to discharge it.”

Parliament is still Parliament

EOCO’s release sneered that Hon. Awuah had gone to the precincts of Parliament to “seek sanctuary though Parliament is on recess.”

The Minority called that line proof EOCO does not know the law it claims to respect.

Order 24(1) of the Standing Orders, giving effect to Article 117 of the Constitution, bars any civil or criminal process against a Member on the way to, attending at, or returning from parliamentary proceedings. Order 24(2) extends that to the precincts at all times. Order 24(3) says that during recess, process goes through the Speaker. Order 25 requires the Speaker to be told within six hours of any arrest or detention of a Member.

“These rules exist so that the power of the Executive over the representatives of the people is exercised openly and accountably,” the statement said.

The Minority will file a complaint under Order 33 and seek referral to the Committee of Privileges and Immunities.

What the Minority wants

Bail for Madam Bafoh, immediately.

A public account from the Interior and National Security Ministers on the legal basis for the midnight arrest, and why she was not in court within 48 hours.

EOCO to publish the offence under investigation, any warrant, and the officer’s identity. To withdraw its threats against the two bystanders. To commit that any future process against an MP goes through the Speaker.

A CHRAJ investigation into the violations of Madam Bafoh’s rights. Assurances from the Judicial Service that court precincts will be protected from intimidation of litigants and counsel.

And the Ministers and EOCO’s Executive Director to answer to Parliament.

“A Government confident in its case does not need the cover of darkness to arrest a nurse, force to stop her lawyer, or intimidation to delay an inquiry into cocaine leaving our ports,” the statement said.

The Minority also pressed the President on the ports.

“Since January 2025, party activists have stormed our ports and harbour institutions, some reportedly presenting themselves as National Security operatives. Who authorised their presence? What access have they gained to cargo, clearance and scanning operations? And does the breakdown of order at our ports have anything to do with Ghana’s emergence as a transit route for narcotics?”

“A President serious about this crisis would demand answers, not leave his agencies to chase the Members of Parliament asking the questions.”