Former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng should have been given a self-recognizance bail after his arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), a renowned economist Kwame Pianim has said.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng had to be bailed by his friend.
“They did not even suggest self-recognizance 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,” he told Alfred Ocansey on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Wednesday, June 7.
The renowned heart surgeon was put under investigation following an invitation given to him by the Office weeks ago.
He was invited on corruption and corruption-related activities, particularly over his report on the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
He was also arrested for alleged involvement in the missing of some 500 excavators and the involvement Symphony Limited, the company owned by his son, in illegal mining.
He was immediately granted bail of GH¢2 million.
Reacting to this development, Mr Kwame Pianim said TV3’s Paa Kwasi Asare that “If Prof Frimpong-Boateng is in any way connected to galamsey or promotes galamsey or stops it from being eradicated, I will be the first person to take him to the Police.
“What I am saying is that in the investigation people are deemed innocent until proven guilty and somebody of his stature anywhere in the world would have been given self-recognition.
Renowned Economist, Kwame Pianim has said, hardworking and selfless men like Prof. Frimpong Boateng deserve to be treated better.#TV3NewDay pic.twitter.com/Qf7UgY2jga
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) June 8, 2023