The Abomination That Causes Desolation And The Ides Of March Are Here!

They adjourned the bail application hearing of Salome Baffoe to tomorrow—not because the law demanded it, not because justice required it, but because the Attorney-General says no lawyer has yet been assigned to the case. Sad?

No. Sinister.

In any decent republic, a citizen’s liberty cannot become a file waiting for a lawyer to be assigned.

The Attorney-General is not a bus conductor assigning seats.

The court is not a waiting room for the state’s administrative failures.

If the Attorney-General’s office cannot find a lawyer, that failure should not become the citizen’s burden.

The law does not sleep because the state is disorganised.

Justice does not adjourn because government machinery has failed to function.

Then came EOCO—on the very premises of the court—obviously acting contrary to laid-down procedures governing the arrest of a Member of Parliament and attempting to arrest Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah MP, Salome Baffoe’s lawyer.

A lawyer who had indicated his willingness to honour their invitation was instead confronted on the grounds of the temple of justice.

The symbolism could hardly be more disturbing: the place where the law should command respect became a theatre of intimidation.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with a lawyer responding to a lawful invitation or cooperating with a legitimate investigation.

But where the person concerned is a Member of Parliament, the rules and constitutional procedures governing the invitation, questioning or arrest of an MP must be respected.

The rule of law cannot mean compliance when convenient and disregard when inconvenient.

This is not merely about one lawyer, one accused person or one agency. It raises a fundamental question about the character of state power.

When those who stand between the citizen and the state begin to feel the weight of that same state on the grounds of the court, what happens to the rule of law?

The contradiction is profound. A state that demands obedience to the law must itself demonstrate obedience to the law.

State institutions cannot claim legitimacy merely because they possess the power to arrest, investigate or prosecute. That power must always be exercised within the boundaries of law, due process and institutional restraint.

The Ides of March are here—not simply as a date, but as a warning.

The abomination that causes desolation is here—not in some distant land or forgotten scripture, but in the very institutions where citizens expect justice, protection and restraint: our courts, our public institutions and, increasingly, our national conscience.

When the state appears to fear the lawyer, it raises questions about what the lawyer represents: the law. When state agents attempt an arrest on court premises, the dignity of the court itself is placed under scrutiny.

And when a citizen’s liberty is delayed because the state has failed to organise its own legal representation, the citizen pays the price for the state’s dysfunction.

This is bigger than Salome Baffoe. Bigger than  Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah MP. Bigger than EOCO or the Attorney-General. It is about the kind of republic we are becoming.

Ghana must wake up. State power must remain accountable. Institutions must remain independent. The law must bind the state as firmly as it binds the citizen.

Our courts must remain places where power is restrained by law—not places where power is brought to bear upon those who challenge it.

The Ides of March are here. The abomination that causes desolation is here. And if we remain silent as the boundaries of constitutionalism and the rule of law are tested, we may wake up one day to discover that what has been adjourned is not merely a bail hearing, but the very promise of our freedom.

Professor Otchere Addai-Mensah.