Accra: Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has taken a swipe at the judicial system, the Ghana Police Service, and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) over what he described as 'excesses' in their mode of operation.
According to Ghana Web, the minister criticized the judicial system and certain security agencies in the country for frequently abusing their powers in cases involving individuals accused of crimes. He emphasized that it is unlawful for state institutions to deny individuals bail solely based on allegations.
Iddrisu highlighted that there have been numerous instances where the police, the courts, and EOCO have used bail as a form of punishment against accused persons. "We have seen excesses, excesses from the police, excesses from the courts, and excesses from EOCO, where persons are denied bail and bail is used as punishment for accused persons. That is not the law. It is settled knowledge and settled law that you do not deny an accused person bail or impose excessively burdensome bail conditions," he stated.
The Education Minister further argued that imposing excessively high bail conditions on accused persons seeking temporary freedom is unconstitutional. He urged that Ghana should put an end to what he termed as 'high-handedness and excessiveness' in matters relating to bail.
Iddrisu reiterated the importance of upholding the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence, stating, "If you uphold the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence, then every person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. So, I expect that in Ghana today, we must end the high-handedness and excessiveness in matters relating to bail, the denial of bail, and related conditions."