Baffour Awuah arrest: I expect there must be something we all don’t know – Sulemana Braimah
by Gabs · MyNewsGh.comThe Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah, has called for the full facts behind the EOCO investigation involving Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah to be made clear.
Braimah said he would be surprised if the entire matter was ultimately about the issues that had so far emerged publicly concerning Baffour Awuah’s former legal representation of SIC Life Savings and Loans.
“I would be extremely disappointed if it turns out that the reasons for which this whole Baffour Awuah thing is happening are essentially what we are hearing,” he said on Newsfile on JoyNews.
He said the public currently appeared to have only part of the story.“I expect that there must be something that we all don’t know,” he said.
The public dispute has centred partly on Baffour Awuah’s former law firm’s relationship with SIC Life Savings and Loans.
Baffour Awuah has said his former firm represented SIC Life Savings and Loans in recovering an investment it had made with Equity Savings and Loans, while EOCO’s latest court application linked its investigation to alleged unauthorised financial transactions involving the two institutions.Braimah said there could be legitimate issues for investigators to pursue.
“It is not to say that from what we are hearing, perhaps there is nothing. There could be issues,” he said.
He stressed that if the investigation uncovers evidence of a crime against the state, those responsible should face accountability.
“And of course, if there are issues of crime committed against the state in whichever way, I think people have to be held accountable,” he said.
Braimah’s concern was therefore about proportionality and transparency rather than whether the investigation should take place.
He said public officials and politicians should not receive special treatment simply because of their positions.
“We all stand for that. And it doesn’t matter whether such people are MPs or ministers or whatever it is,” he said.
“The law, as they say, is the law.” However, he said the same principle also required the state to demonstrate that its actions were based on legitimate investigative grounds rather than an attempt to assert authority.
He said the public should ultimately be able to distinguish between a genuine criminal investigation and the use of state power for other purposes.
“The law must be seen to be working fairly in a way that we would all believe it is just the law that is working and not some power play that is happening,” he said.
Braimah said he would reserve final judgment until investigators presented more evidence.
“My personal position is that I’m not convinced until the evidence,” he said.
He added that the public could eventually learn that the investigation involved “other significant matters” that had not yet been disclosed.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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