Story Highlights
- EOCO has arrested Dennis Edward Aboagye, former Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD), and Gerald Appiah, the Secretariat’s former Accountant, over suspected misappropriation of about GH¢55 million.
- The investigation stems from a forensic audit covering August 2022 to February 2025, triggered by a petition from IMCCoD’s current Executive Secretary.
- Aboagye, a prominent NPP communications figure and aide to Mahamudu Bawumia, was intercepted at Accra International Airport after EOCO says he left the country despite being placed on a Stop Order.
- The NPP has called the arrest politically motivated, alleging Aboagye was denied access to a lawyer and held without disclosed whereabouts or charges.
- EOCO says Appiah has begun voluntarily refunding funds connected to the case, though the office maintains this does not conclude the investigation or absolve any suspect.
The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has confirmed the arrest of Dennis Edward Aboagye, former Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD), and Gerald Appiah, the Secretariat’s former Accountant, in connection with investigations into suspected financial and procurement-related irregularities amounting to about GH¢55 million.
In a signed press statement dated Monday, July 13th, EOCO said the arrests follow an extensive investigation opened after a petition from IMCCoD’s current Executive Secretary, requesting further scrutiny of a forensic audit into the Secretariat’s affairs covering the period from 1 August 2022 to 2 February 2025.
Origins of the Investigation
According to EOCO, the probe began last year following the initial forensic audit and the subsequent petition. The office said the audit and its own investigations point to suspected misappropriation, misapplication, diversion and theft of public funds during the review period.
Mr. Aboagye — widely known by the nickname “Miracles” — Appiah, and unnamed others are under investigation for six categories of alleged offences: conspiracy to steal and stealing; using public office for profit; causing financial loss to the state; dissipation of public funds; defrauding by false pretences; and money laundering.
IMCCoD is an 11-member ministerial committee that was chaired by former President Nana Akufo-Addo, tasked with coordinating policy on deepening decentralisation in Ghana.
Mr. Aboagye served as a presidential staffer with responsibility for local government and decentralisation, alongside his role as the committee’s Executive Secretary, before leaving government with the change of administration.
The Arrest at Accra International Airport
EOCO’s account of the arrest sequence describes a narrower window than has circulated publicly. The statement says Mr. Aboagye “is already aware of the investigation and has already visited the office on it,” and that new findings emerging “last week” relating to suspected fraud and theft prompted the office to initiate an operational plan to arrest him.
As part of that plan, EOCO said it placed Aboagye on a Stop Order roughly a week earlier to prevent travel that could impede the probe.
EOCO said it was unaware at the time that Mr. Aboagye had already left the country. He was intercepted by Ghana Immigration Service officers upon his return to Accra International Airport on Saturday night and handed over to EOCO on Sunday morning.
The office said he subsequently accompanied investigators on a search operation that began Sunday and was expected to continue Monday.
EOCO’s statement confirms Aboagye will be granted bail “in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of Ghana,” and that Appiah was expected to complete bail conditions and be released Monday while investigations continue.
A Political Flashpoint
The arrest has become a point of contention between EOCO and the opposition New Patriotic Party. Mr. Aboagye is a senior NPP communications figure, an aide to former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia — the party’s 2028 presidential candidate — and had declared his candidacy for the party’s National Communications Director position only hours before his arrest became public.
NPP General Secretary Justin Frimpong Kodua said in a statement, reported across Ghanaian outlets a day ahead of EOCO’s own release, that Mr. Aboagye’s lawyers had been denied access to him, his whereabouts were undisclosed, and no charges had been preferred at the time.
The party characterised the arrest as politically motivated, pointing to Mr. Aboagye’s public criticism of the government’s handling of illegal small-scale mining, known locally as galamsey, and alleging a broader pattern of arrests targeting NPP members. The party has demanded he be released or formally arraigned.
Some government-aligned voices have pushed back on that framing. Akwatia MP Bernard Bediako Baidoo said publicly that Aboagye, as a former public official, has “serious questions to answer” tied to his tenure at IMCCoD, while stressing that raising questions does not amount to a declaration of guilt.
EOCO’s statement does not address the NPP’s specific allegations about lawyer access or undisclosed whereabouts, focusing instead on the operational account of the Stop Order, the airport interception, and the ongoing search.
Refunds and the Limits of Restitution
EOCO’s statement notes that Mr. Appiah “has voluntarily begun refunding (returning the Loot) of funds connected to the crimes under investigation.”
The office was explicit that such recoveries “do not and by themselves conclude the investigative process neither does it absolve any suspect of any crime” — a formulation that leaves open the question of whether restitution will factor into eventual charging decisions or sentencing recommendations, a recurring issue in Ghana’s public financial management enforcement record.
What Remains Unresolved
As of this reporting, EOCO has not announced formal charges against either Mr. Aboagye or Mr. Appiah, nor has it released the underlying forensic audit or named the “others” it says are also under investigation.
The specific breakdown of the alleged GH¢55 million — how funds were allegedly diverted, and through which contracts or transactions — has not been made public.
This article was edited with AI and reviewed by human editors
