The Commercial Court 5 Division of the High Court in Accra has approved an application by Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah to have his passport returned.
His passport was taken under his bail conditions in an ongoing criminal case. He faces charges of allegedly causing financial loss to the state and money laundering.
The case is connected to legal work he carried out for SIC Savings and Loans Limited in a loan recovery matter. The state says the matter involved criminal acts.
At a hearing on Thursday, November 12, the MP’s lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, said his client was not a flight risk. He pointed to parliamentary rules that would help ensure the MP returned to the country.
He said the MP could lose his seat if he missed a required number of parliamentary sittings.
The state, represented by Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai, did not object to the application.
The presiding judge, Justice Charity Akosua Asem, then granted the application and changed the bail condition that required the MP’s passport to stay with the court registry.