In an interview with AFRICAWATCH magazine, the former minister, who was the chairman of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), said that the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, lied when he said he (Prof Frimpong-Boateng) was arrested after he implicated himself during questioning.
He said he went to the OSP after an invitation only to be told that he was under arrest without any charge or reason and was only questioned after the arrest.
“Let me tell you exactly what happened. I received a letter from the special prosecutor that I should appear before him because they were conducting an investigation into corruption and corruption-related activities of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining. I went to his office. I was given a seat, and as soon as I sat down, an officer came to me, put his left hand on my right shoulder and said you are under arrest. I was surprised.
“They had not said anything to me, and they had not asked me any questions. My lawyer asked them why they had put me under arrest, and what were the specific charges. They said 'no, no, we don’t have any specific charges, but we are investigating corruption and corruption-related activities of the committee,' and that I would need somebody to bail me,” he is quoted to have said in an interview with the magazine.
“Right there, I suspected that they were trying to humiliate or intimidate me. I kept my cool… Then they asked me a series of questions related to the committee, and at the end of the interrogation, they asked me to write a statement which I did, a very short one,” he added.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng said that the OSP even refused him a self-recognized bail even though he had never committed a crime in the country, and it was his friend, who was waiting in the lobby, who signed the bail forms for him to be released.
“They took my friend to his house to see where he was living so that in case I defaulted, they would be able to find him. I have never ever had any brush with the law and have so much at stake in the country. So why would I flee, and for what? I am not a flight risk, but the special prosecutor would not give me a self-recognized bail. I found his actions very ridiculous,” he added.
TWI NEWS
On May 16, 2023, the former Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, was arrested for corruption-related offences when he honoured an invitation to appear before the OSP.
He was released on a GH¢2 million bail.
Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, while reacting to backlash from the arrest of the former minister, noted that on corruption-related matters brought before him, no one is an angel or a saint.
He stressed that he treats everyone the same and sets free persons whose evidence against them has no substance.
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