A lawyer argues Parliament’s own law already gives investigators a route to reach the Manhyia South MP without an arrest warrant.
Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu says the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) did not need to go to court for a warrant to arrest the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, because the law already sets out a way to reach a sitting MP through the Speaker of Parliament.
EOCO is the state agency that investigates economic and organised crime, including fraud and money-related offences. An Accra High Court granted the agency a warrant to arrest the legislator after EOCO told the court its officers had tried all reasonable steps to get him to appear voluntarily.
The law Kpebu points to
Speaking on Joy FM's Top Story, in reporting by MyJoyOnline, Mr Kpebu pointed to Section 20 of Act 300, the Parliament Act, which he said requires an agency that wants an MP to write to the Speaker.
"So you write and explain everything. The Speaker will make him available," he said.
He said Speakers have handled such requests by inviting law enforcement officers to come to Parliament to meet the MP, a practice he described as commendable.
"I don't understand why they should request to avail himself on that procedure," he said of EOCO's choice to go the warrant route.
Why he says the venue matters
Mr Kpebu's main worry is what can happen once an MP is asked to report to a police station rather than being made available at Parliament. He argued that an officer acting out of spite, or a government wanting to make a point, could find ways to hold a lawmaker at a station for the better part of a day.
In his view, the parliamentary route achieves both aims at once: the MP still cooperates with the investigation, but the privileges that come with the office are protected.
He was careful not to dismiss arrest warrants altogether, describing them as an extra layer of protection in law enforcement. His objection is that a workable alternative existed and was not used.
What is not yet clear
The available reporting does not set out the offence EOCO is investigating, the steps the agency says it took to secure the MP's voluntary attendance, or any response from EOCO, the Speaker's office or the MP himself.
For Ghanaians following the case from the United States and elsewhere, the point of interest is the balance the country strikes between parliamentary privilege and ordinary criminal investigation. Privilege is not immunity, but the process used to reach a lawmaker is often contested, and this case now puts that question before the courts and, potentially, before Parliament.
Whether EOCO proceeds on the warrant or redirects its request to the Speaker will be the next thing to watch.
