The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and members of the opposition Minority in Parliament plan to gather Monday, July 7, at the headquarters of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in Accra, protesting what they describe as the unlawful detention of Abdul-Wahab Hanan, the former head of the state-run National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO).
Mr.Hanan, who was arrested on June 25 along with his wife as part of an investigation into alleged financial crimes at NAFCO, remains in custody despite reportedly meeting the conditions of his GH¢60 million bail. His wife, whose bail was set at GH¢30 million, was released days after the arrest. A third individual, whose identity remains undisclosed, was also detained during simultaneous raids in Accra and Tamale.
NPP National Youth Organizer Salam Mustapha criticized EOCO’s actions on Channel One TV, characterizing the continued detention as a violation of Hanan’s rights. He urged the agency to pursue its case through the courts rather than through what he described as punitive and unexplained detention.
“If Hanan has done something wrong, put him before a court of law and let him have his day,” Mustapha said. “We will go to the EOCO office, along with MPs, party sympathizers, and executives, to ask why he is still being held when all bail conditions have been fulfilled.”
Mustapha alleged that EOCO officials, including Executive Director Raymond Archer, have refused to engage with representatives seeking Hanan’s release, despite an asset evaluation that purportedly satisfies the bail threshold.
“The evaluation report far exceeds the bail conditions. Yet when everything was complete, we called EOCO leadership to come and finalize the process, and none of them answered their phones,” he said. “This looks less like justice and more like punishment.”
EOCO has not publicly responded to the allegations or explained the delay in Hanan’s release. The agency, established to investigate and prosecute serious economic and organized crimes, has been overseeing an expanded probe into financial mismanagement at NAFCO—an entity tasked with securing food supplies and supporting local agriculture.
The bipartisan demonstration signals rare alignment between political rivals in Ghana’s highly polarized landscape, underscoring growing concern over procedural fairness and the balance between anti-corruption enforcement and civil liberties.