This is hunting, not governance

To say I am disappointed in John Mahama, the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), and everyone complicit in this spectacle would be dishonest. Disappointment requires a level of faith I never had.

What we are witnessing is not governance.

It is persecution, clumsy, desperate, and becoming increasingly obvious.

Let’s start with the narrative they are trying to sell.

An unsigned EOCO press release, conveniently sensationalized, throwing around seven serious allegations and a GH¢55 million headline like confetti, hoping the noise will drown out one inconvenient fact: the story does not quite hold.

Because if the case were truly strong, the theatrics would be unnecessary.

Dennis Miracles Aboagye was not hiding.

He was not evading.

He was not running.

He honoured invitations. He appeared when required. He cooperated with the process.

Then he did something that clearly changed the variables: he announced his intention to become louder, more visible, and more credible. He became inconvenient. He became a threat.

And suddenly, the same system that had shown no urgency discovered speed.

Not when he was available.

Not when he was cooperating.

But when he became a political inconvenience.

He was picked up at the airport, not fleeing, but arriving.

Held under circumstances that raise serious questions about respect for due process and the protections guaranteed by our Constitution.

Dragged through a process that feels less like justice and more like an attempt to find something that sticks.

And they know exactly how this works.

Once a headline is released, once someone is arrested and publicly branded a criminal or a thief. Credibility is attacked. Reputation is shattered. The court of public opinion delivers its verdict before a law court ever does.

This is what power looks like when it goes hunting.

And then there is EOCO, an institution that should operate above politics but rather sinking into it.

Under the leadership of Raymond Archer, what we are seeing does not appear to be precision law enforcement. It looks like pressure.

Bail granted at the eleventh hour after lawyers were denied access for 48 hours. Conditions imposed that appear designed less to guarantee attendance at court and more to impose hardship.

It has always been my understanding that bail is not meant to be punitive.

But perhaps this is a new interpretation of justice.

Because when your case is strong, you rely on evidence.

When your evidence is compelling, you rely on the law.

When your process is legitimate, you do not need intimidation.

But when a target refuses to break, your grip tightens.

What should concern every Ghanaian is not only what is happening, but who it is happening to.

Not a silent citizen.

Not an unknown figure.

But one of the government’s most vocal and effective critics.

That is not accidental. It’s a playbook of a deeply insecure government with copious amounts of power.

It is the pattern of a government that appears more interested in managing its critics than addressing its failures.

A struggling government that would rather outmanoeuvre its opponents than outperform them.

Because it is easier to intimidate opposition than to deliver results.

Easier to weaponize institutions than to fix incompetence.

Easier to control the narrative than to improve the record.

To the members of the New Patriotic Party who showed up in numbers to advocate for fairness and due process, kudos. That is what understanding the stakes looks like.

Because today, it is Miracles.

Tomorrow, it could be someone else.

And eventually, it could be anyone who refuses to fall in line.

That is how these things begin.

Not with mass arrests.

But with one example.

And to those quietly waiting for their turn to retaliate, when will we learn?

This cycle of political revenge is exactly how nations weaken from within.

Yes, wrongdoing must be investigated. Yes, accountability matters.

But punishment without due process is not justice. It is abuse of power.

You do not end political persecution by simply changing who is on the chopping block.

You end it by building institutions strong enough to withstand political convenience.

So, let’s call this what it is, plain and simple;

An attempt to malign, weaken, and intimidate a political opponent who refused to shrink.

And it has failed.

Because instead of breaking him, it has exposed the system.

Exposed the desperation.

Exposed the overreach.

Exposed how far power is willing to stretch when it feels threatened.

Strong governments do not fear strong voices.

They answer them.

They do not hunt them.

Enough said.