The arrest of Dennis Miracles Aboagye, a former Presidential Staffer and Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on Decentralisation, is linked to a long-running investigation into his tenure at the IMCC, Radio Gold has learnt from sources within the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
Mr. Aboagye was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport on Sunday after being placed on an immigration Stop List, a development that sources say followed a significant breakthrough in EOCO’s investigations.
According to Radio Gold’s sources within EOCO, the investigation has been ongoing for approximately one year and centres on the operations of the IMCC Secretariat during Mr. Aboagye’s tenure as Executive Secretary.
Sources further disclosed that Mr. Aboagye is being investigated alongside several former officials of the IMCC, with some individuals said to have begun returning state funds allegedly linked to the ongoing investigation ahead of any formal charges.
The sources maintain that investigators are examining suspected offences including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, defrauding by false pretences, dissipation of public funds, and using public office for personal profit.
EOCO has not publicly confirmed these specific allegations, nor has it announced any formal charges against Mr. Aboagye. The investigation remains ongoing.
Mr. Aboagye served in two key positions under the Akufo-Addo administration. He was Presidential Staffer responsible for Local Government and Decentralisation at the Office of the President and, with effect from 15 August 2022, was appointed Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on Decentralisation.
As Executive Secretary, he was responsible for coordinating the work of the IMCC Secretariat, implementing the Committee’s decisions, managing its day-to-day operations, coordinating ministries, departments and agencies involved in decentralisation reforms, and providing technical and administrative support to the Committee, which was chaired by the President.
The IMCC is the government’s principal coordinating body for Ghana’s decentralisation programme. Its mandate includes coordinating national decentralisation policy, overseeing local governance reforms, promoting the devolution of political, administrative and fiscal powers to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), and harmonising the work of state institutions implementing decentralisation policies.
The latest disclosures provide the first indication of the focus of EOCO’s investigation following Mr. Aboagye’s arrest. Until now, the anti-graft agency had not publicly stated why the former government official had been taken into custody.
Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned the arrest, describing it as politically motivated. The party insists Mr. Aboagye was neither invited by EOCO nor informed that he was under investigation before his arrest, while maintaining that it supports lawful accountability provided due process is observed.
As of the time of filing this report, EOCO has not issued an official public statement outlining the specific basis of the investigation or announcing any charges against Mr. Aboagye.
