The Member of Parliament for the Builsa South constituency, Dr. Clement Apaak, believes that the arrest of former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) was poorly timed.
He said that the OSP’s actions seem to suggest that they are trying to intimidate Prof. Frimpong-Boateng.
“At least we are seeing some progress in terms of action by the OSP. We can delve into the details about the optics and timing. The reason this raises eyebrows is that there is an attempt to cow and intimidate Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, given the context and the timing. I think those concerns are legitimate, because we all know that the OSP had previously signaled that it would begin investigations into the activities of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM). We didn’t hear any progress.
“The OSP is acting, but the way in which it is playing out seems to give the impression that it is not just an investigation, but could be an attempt to victimize or intimidate Professor Frimpong-Boateng. That is an opinion in the public domain,” Dr. Apaak said on the Big Issue on Citi TV, hosted by Selorm Adonoo.
The legislator further argued that the way in which Professor Frimpong-Boateng was arrested was wrong.
“Prof. Frimpong-Boateng has said that he is prepared to help bring accountability, but I think where eyebrows are being raised is the manner in which the arrest was made. The way in which the information came to the public domain. Even when he came out publicly to say that he was invited and subsequently arrested and granted bail, you will notice that there was an attempt to suggest that he was not arrested and granted bail.
He added, “Later on we heard that he had been given self-recognizance bail, which was not the case. So why is it that the information coming out seems to be a bit checked? It doesn’t seem to be honest and straightforward even after the fact. What is the need in not telling us the truth about what happened? Something is amiss.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng was arrested by the OSP last month to answer questions about suspected corruption and corruption-related offenses in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved IMCIM.
He insisted that he did nothing wrong to warrant such action from the Special Prosecutor.