Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former minister of environment, science, technology, and innovation, has claimed that he feels targeted as a result of his arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
In an exclusive interview with TV3’s Alfred Ocansey on June 7, he said he thought the arrest on May 16 was “strange,” especially in light of the circumstances leading up to it.
“We waited at the lobby down there [and] that was my first time in that building,” he narrated to Alfred Ocansey.
“We got there around 10 o’clock, waiting for my lawyer. When he came, we were taken upstairs to the 7th Floor or so, where the office is and then we were ushered into a room. I was given a chair and opposite me was the Chief Investigator.
“Next to me on my right were my two lawyers and then some officers from that Office.
“So, as soon as I sat down, the Chief Investigator came to me. I was sitting down [then] he put his left hand on my right shoulder and said, ‘Professor, you are under arrest’.
“Why? He said they are investigating corruption and corruption-related activities of the IMCIM that I was chairman of. Any specific thing I had done? No, they are just doing their investigations but all the same I was under arrest.
“I found it very strange.”
He added “They did not even suggest self-recognisance bail. I needed somebody to bail me. So a friend of mine was down there and he came up and bailed me and so I left and they went with my friend to his house.”
Asked whether he feels targeted, he answered “Of course in a way. I will be a fool not to feel that way.”
The renowned heart surgeon was subject to an investigation after accepting an invitation from the Office a few weeks prior.
He was invited for his report on the disbanded Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), which focused on corruption and activities related to it.
Additionally, he was detained for his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 500 excavators and Symphony Limited, his son’s illegal mining.
He received a $2 million bail bond right away.
