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Addai Mensah raises rule-of-law concerns over Salome Baffoe bail hearing and EOCO action
Former Chief Executive Officer of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Prof. Otchere Addai Mensah, has raised concerns about the adjournment of the bail application hearing involving Salome Baffoe and an alleged attempt by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to arrest her lawyer, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, on court premises.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Prof. Addai Mensah described the developments as troubling and questioned whether administrative difficulties within the Attorney-General’s Office should result in delays to proceedings affecting an individual’s liberty.
According to him, the bail hearing was adjourned to the following day after the Attorney-General’s Office indicated that no lawyer had yet been assigned to the case.
He argued that the state’s inability to assign a lawyer should not become a burden on a citizen whose liberty is at stake.
“The law does not sleep because the state is disorganised. Justice does not adjourn because government machinery has failed to function,” Prof. Addai Mensah wrote.
He also expressed concern over what he described as an attempt by EOCO to arrest Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, a Member of Parliament and lawyer for Salome Baffoe, while on the premises of the court.
Prof. Addai Mensah alleged that the action was contrary to established procedures governing the arrest of a Member of Parliament. He said the circumstances were particularly concerning because, according to his account, the lawyer had indicated his willingness to honour an invitation from EOCO.
He stressed, however, that there was nothing inherently wrong with a lawyer responding to a lawful invitation or cooperating with a legitimate investigation.
His concern, he said, was that constitutional and legal procedures governing the invitation, questioning or arrest of a sitting MP must be respected.
“The rule of law cannot mean compliance when convenient and disregard when inconvenient,” he stated.
Prof. Addai Mensah said the developments raised broader questions about the exercise of state power and the protection of constitutionalism and due process.
He argued that state institutions could not derive legitimacy simply from their powers to investigate, arrest or prosecute, but must exercise those powers within the limits of the law and with institutional restraint.
“When those who stand between the citizen and the state begin to feel the weight of that same state on the grounds of the court, what happens to the rule of law?” he asked.
He further said the presence of state agents attempting to effect an arrest on court premises raised questions about the dignity and authority of the judiciary, while describing the delay in the bail proceedings as an instance in which a citizen could bear the consequences of administrative difficulties within the state.
Prof. Addai Mensah maintained that the issues went beyond the individuals involved, saying they concerned the broader character of Ghana’s democratic institutions.
“This is bigger than Salome Baffoe. Bigger than Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah MP. Bigger than EOCO or the Attorney-General. It is about the kind of republic we are becoming,” he wrote.
He called for state power to remain accountable and for public institutions to operate within constitutional and legal boundaries.
“Institutions must remain independent. The law must bind the state as firmly as it binds the citizen,” Prof. Addai Mensah said.
He concluded his statement with a warning about the implications of failing to defend constitutional principles and the rule of law, invoking the biblical phrase “the abomination that causes desolation” and the historical reference to the “Ides of March” to underscore what he described as a serious moment for Ghana’s democracy.
Prof. Addai Mensah’s comments were made in relation to the reported developments surrounding Salome Baffoe’s bail application and the alleged attempted arrest of Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
