A leading law firm in Ghana, Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline and Partners (MPOBB), has described the purported recent arrest and detention of two of its lawyers, Justice Menka-Premoh and Ms. Sophia Korkor, by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), as an unlawful development.

The position of MPOBB is contained in a five-page statement released by the law firm on Friday, 8 May 2026, clarifying the circumstances under which its lawyers got caught up in the arrest and detention claims first announced by Minister for government communications, Felix Ofosu Kwakye, and reiterated by one Benjamin Alpha, a spokesperson of the Attorney-General’s office.

“Our attention has been drawn to reports, including a social media update by the President’s Spokesman, Mr. Felix Ofosu Kwakye, indicating that a PDS “quartet” had been arrested and granted bail in respect of money “believed” to belong to ECG.

“The post included the names “Justice Menka-Premoh” and “Sophia Korkor,” which are misspelt references to lawyers practising within our firm. Subsequently, an interview granted to Joy FM by a certain Benjamin Alpha, a  spokesperson of the Attorney-General’s office, indicated that the four people (including our lawyers) were arrested and granted bail for their involvement in transferring Eight Hundred and Fifty Million Ghana Cedis (GHS850,000,000.00) out of a Calbank Account belonging to ECG.

“The social media post and interview have unfortunately formed the basis of several media stories that inaccurately portray our firm and its lawyers as having engaged in illicit activities. These representations are misleading and damaging to the professional reputation of our firm and the individual lawyers who were arrested and detained.

“On Thursday 30^th April, 2026 Mr. Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo, a Senior Partner of Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline and Partners (MPOBB), attended the offices of Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) at Kawukudi to provide legal representation to Messrs.

“Philip Ayesu and Viraj Bhat in relation to a PDS/ECG investigation. He was accompanied by Ms. Sophia Kokor, a Junior Partner. However, the BNI and Economic Organised Crime Office (EOCO) officials refused to allow our lawyers to represent their clients, claiming the lawyers themselves were “persons of interest,” the MPOBB statement read.

“This escalated into the restriction of the movement of Mr. Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo and Ms. Sophia Kokor. They were subjected to interrogation and arrest on vague and unsubstantiated allegations of “Dishonestly Receiving” and “Abetment of Money Laundering,” without any specific figures being cited or identification of any objects dishonestly received.

“They were detained until the evening of the following day, Friday May 1, 2026 and then granted bail in the excessive sum of Fifty Million Ghana Cedis (GHS50,000,000.00) each. This is not a standard criminal investigation; it is a direct assault on the right to legal counsel and the professional immunity of lawyers.

“The four individuals whose arrests have been reported were all participants in arbitration proceedings that commenced in 2021 between PDS, ECG and the Government of Ghana at the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). In those proceedings, our lawyers, Mr. Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo and Ms. Sophia Kokor were among the legal team that represented PDS, while ECG was represented by a team of lawyers which included Dr. Dominic Ayine (the current Attorney-General).

“The arbitration was duly concluded, and an award was delivered in November 2024 wherein specific declarations were made that dismissed the reliefs of PDS and declined jurisdiction regarding the Counterclaim of ECG. Costs were awarded against PDS. A formal demand for those costs was thereafter made by ECG’s legal representatives and was fully paid by PDS through its lawyers.

“The arbitration concluded that each party carried the liabilities that it had incurred prior to the decision. PDS owed no money to ECG beyond the costs which were awarded, and which have long since been settled. The termination dispute that started in 2019 was therefore resolved through a recognized and binding international legal process in 2024,” the MPOBB statement further explained.

“Accordingly, the assertion made by the spokesperson of the Attorney-General that the four people (including our lawyers) were arrested and granted bail for their involvement in transferring Eight Hundred and Fifty Million Ghana Cedis (GHS850,000,000.00) out of a Calbank Account belonging to ECG as a result of an “Interim Protocol” does not appear on any Investigation Caution Statement and therefore cannot be accurate.

“The only “Interim Protocol” between PDS and ECG was the product of a mediation event between the ECG and the PDS under the joint Chairmanship of Messrs. Akoto-Ampaw, Esq. and Eson-Benjamin (in which process the current ECG Managing Director participated as Chief Operating Officer of MiDA) resulted in a solution termed ‘the Interim Protocol’.

“It was not an agreement amending the Transaction Agreements of the Concession, nor did it replace it. The Interim Protocol lasted for less than 3 months (6^th August, 2019 to 23^rd October, 2019). This was a matter that came up at the Arbitration proceedings in London. PDS does not owe and has never owed ECG after the arbitration, whether by virtue of the award therefrom or as a result of the “Interim Protocol”.

“The Mining, Energy and Power Team of MPOBB, under the leadership of Mr. Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo and Ms. Sophia Kokor, has since 2015 represented the consortium that won the ECG Concession under the Compact 2 of the Millenium Challenge Account that commenced during the then President Mahama’s government and continued under the President Akufo-Addo government, through to the incorporation of PDS as a special purpose vehicle for the consortium’s operation of the Concession.

“The firm’s legal services to PDS have continued to the present day, even after the termination of the Concession by President Akuffo-Addo’s government in 2019. We believe that the arrest of our lawyers is not only unlawful but is a calculated attempt to intimidate and harass our lawyers and the firm, thereby depriving our clients of the excellent legal representation for which MPOBB is recognized globally for the past 30 years.

“The use of State power to criminalize legal practitioners for their roles in concluded, lawful international arbitrations is a dangerous precedent and raises grave concerns. The claim that PDS funds are ECG funds was already addressed through the LCIA process, where PDS settled all awarded costs. To revisit these settled commercial matters through intimidation by the purported use of criminal processes is a clear abuse of State authority, as well as a wanton disregard of judicial and arbitration processes.

“The pattern of intimidation and harassment directed at Mr. Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo and Ms. Sophia Kokor transcends mere procedural overreach. When lawyers are arrested for discharging their professional obligations and are then denied the right to represent their clients, the integrity of the entire justice system is compromised,” the MPOBB statement read in its conclusion.

Statement by MPOBB on the arrest and detention of its lawyers by the BNI in Accra