In what appears to be an appeal to pity fallacy, former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Professor Frimpong Boateng, has dominated the media space; granting interviews about his purported arrest, which happened as far back as May 16, 2023.
From last Wednesday evening, the heart surgeon has never missed an interview with any media organisation which sought to know, to narrate in detail what he went through in the hands of those he said were officials of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), leaving people to draw conclusions that he is being victimised.
“The Chief Investigator put his left hand on my shoulder and said, ‘You are under arrest.’ I asked, ‘Why am I under arrest? What are my charges?’ ‘Well, there are no specific charges. We are investigating corruption and corruption-related activities on the committee you chaired,” he told Joy News in an interview.
He continued that “He asked if I was ready to answer some questions and I told him I would do my best. I was asked a lot of questions, and it took a little over 2 hours. After that, I was told I had to be bailed before I would be released. I was offered self-recognizance bail. A friend was in the lobby, so he came up and bailed me, and I left. I was told that if the need arises, I would be invited back to the office. That is what happened. And of course, some of the OSP officers went to see my friend’s place where he was staying to make sure that if I absconded, he would be able to produce me before the court.
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“I don’t feel comfortable going over the questions they asked me, because this is a prosecutor investigating me. It was a broad-based question on many topics, and I answered as best as I could. And so that was it. No, they didn’t come to my house.”
But this paper has gathered that Professor Frimpong-Boateng was invited by the OSP in a letter dated(published) May 3, 2023, to “answer questions into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM),” which he chaired, and it had nothing to do with his 37-page document on supposed interfering in his work.
Recall that before Prof Frimpong Boateng’s 37-page document was leaked, the OSP in October 2022, published that it had started investigations into suspected and corruption-related offences in respect of illegal mining, following ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ undercover documentary about the rot in the mining sector.
Meanwhile, former Deputy Attorney-General, Joseph Kpemka has described as lawful the arrest of the former Minister of Environment, Science and Technology.
According to him, the arrest of Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng falls in line with the mandate of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show yesterday Kpemka explained that, “They [OSP] has the power of arrest, they have the power of investigation and prosecution, and then the power of asset recovery, so what they did was not unlawful. Arrest is part of their mandate.”
