Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Adentan, Akosua Manu, has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of adopting an approach that results in "unreasonable and obscene" bail conditions.

Ms Manu was reacting to the arrest of NPP communications team member Dennis 'Miracles' Aboagye over his tenure at the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD) in connection with an alleged GHS55 million corruption scandal involving former IMCCoD accountant Gerald Appiah. According to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Appiah has begun refunding the money.

Mr Aboagye was arrested at the Accra International Airport on Saturday evening and granted GHS50 million bail with three sureties, two of whom must justify the bail with properties of equivalent value. His lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, described the bail conditions as "cruel and oppressive".

Speaking on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, Ms Manu, who is also the NPP Sector Committee on Gender and Social Protection spokesperson, agreed with that assessment and argued that such bail conditions had become common under the NDC administration.

"Does that make sense, that bail conditions should be set on what is alleged you have taken?" she asked.

She questioned whether it would be considered fair if a future government applied the same approach to NDC officials over matters such as the government's Big Push road infrastructure initiative, with more than a billion-cedi budget.

Ms Manu stressed that allegations of corruption should be handled through the courts.

She suggested that such actions by the government could be directed at "persons you believe cannot be implicated in court but you can use your own power and discretion to punish them".

"Is this how to decide bail conditions?" she quizzed, in another interview with De Prince. 

She also alleged that the government's "periodic" arrests are timed to coincide with issues that have "seized public attention" and are favourable to the opposition.

As an example, she cited the arrest and subsequent bail of former National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, which she said coincided with the recent floods, while noting that another judge later challenged the bail conditions.