EOCO Detention, Voluntary Repayments, NPP’s Protest spotlights GHc55m Grand Loot at IMCCoD
By Gifty Boateng
Dennis Miracles Aboagye, a close associate of former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and an aspirant for the NPP’s national communications director position, remains in Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) custody following his arrest at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport on 11 July.
The detention which the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rushed to characterise as political persecution centres on the alleged diversion of approximately GH¢55 million in public funds during Aboagye’s tenure as executive secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD).
EOCO’s investigation, which has been quietly underway since last year, was triggered by a petition from IMCCoD’s current executive secretary, Dr Gameli Kewuribe Hoedoafia, demanding deeper scrutiny of a forensic audit covering the period from August 2022 to February 2025.
The anti-graft agency’s statement on 13 July confirms that Aboagye, 41, is being investigated alongside former IMCCoD accountant Gerald Appiah and other unnamed individuals for offences including conspiracy to steal, using public office for profit, causing financial loss to the state, dissipation of public funds, defrauding by false pretences, and money laundering.
In a development that underscores the gravity of the case, EOCO disclosed that Appiah has already begun voluntarily refunding sums linked to the alleged misappropriation. The agency stressed, however, that these recoveries “do not, by themselves, conclude the investigative process, neither does it absolve any suspect of any crime”. Appiah is expected to be released on bail while investigations continue.
EOCO explained that “significant new findings last week” relating to suspected fraud and theft involving Aboagye prompted the operational plan to effect his arrest. A stop order had been placed on him a week earlier, but investigators were unaware that he had already left the country.
The NPP moved swiftly to frame the arrest as a politically motivated attack. Within hours, leading party figures including general secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong shared social media posts reading “Free Dennis Miracles Aboagye Now”, followed by a formal press statement demanding his immediate release or production before a court.
Yesterday, 13 July, party loyalists massed outside EOCO’s offices in a protest that threatened to spill over. Wearing red armbands, the crowd chanted “No Miracles, no home” and “we will die with the police here”. Some attempted to block roads but were dispersed by security forces, with attendees reporting the use of pepper spray.
The protest echoes a similar demonstration on 27 May 2025, when NPP supporters including minority MPs gathered at the same location following the arrest of Ashanti Regional chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi) on money laundering and fraud charges. On that occasion, MPs sat on the bare floor in public view before quietly dispersing after their demands were not met.
The NPP’s narrative that Aboagye was targeted for his criticism of President John Dramani Mahama’s government and for declaring his candidacy for the party’s communications director position is already unravelling. Aboagye was arrested on Saturday, a full 24 hours before the video of his candidacy announcement emerged online at 9:13am on Sunday via UTV Ghana.
Party communications director Richard Ahiagbah insisted on Monday that “our best guess at this moment is that he is being detained because he’s a critic”, adding that the government is “arresting people for saying president is that, arrest for project”. Yet EOCO’s detailed statement, coupled with Appiah’s voluntary repayments, points to a forensic trail that predates any political posturing.
At the protest, NPP communications team member Senyo Amekplenu delivered a stark warning to EOCO boss Raymond Archer: “You can start today it is a long walk. You will never continue on this tangent. Remember one day, one say, if you continue on this tangent the table will definitely change, and when the table turns you will be the next person.”
Former Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfro MP Sly Tetteh added his own admonition, reminding Archer that “the office he occupies today existed before he was born and will continue to exist after him”.
Meanwhile, Frimpong’s earlier statement had claimed Aboagye was denied access to legal counsel a charge EOCO has not directly addressed. The party’s three demands release or court production, unrestricted lawyer access, and an end to what it calls “politically driven” detentions now hang in the balance as investigators weigh the evidence.
With GH¢55 million at stake and voluntary repayments already underway, the case against Aboagye and his alleged co-conspirators is poised to test both Ghana’s anti-corruption machinery and the resilience of its democratic institutions. For now, the man once known as “Miracles” remains in EOCO’s custody and the political fallout is only beginning.