Mr. Dan Abodakpi, Member of Parliament for Keta and a former Minister of Trade and Industry in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration has been given presidential pardon from prison. The clemency takes immediate effect.The former minister was serving a 10-year jail term for willfully causing financial loss of $400,000 to the State.Mr. Abodakpi was sentenced on February 5, 2007 after a trial that began in 2002.The pardon granted by President J. A. Kufuor, was announced in a statement from the Office of the President, Saturday May 24, 2008 and signed by Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs. The statement said the President was exercising his constitutional prerogative of mercy in favour of Mr. Abodakpi and the decision was on humanitarian grounds.The statement said the decision was on humanitarian grounds, to exercise his constitutional prerogative of mercy in favour of Mr Dan Abodakpi, and accordingly the President has granted a pardon by way of remission of the remainder of his sentence.Mr. Abodakpi was tried and found guilty together with the late Victor Selormey, a Former Deputy Finance Minister on the counts of conspiracy to commit crime; defrauding by false pretences and willfully causing a total loss of ¢2.73 billion to the State.The fraud was committed when Abodakpi and the late Victor Selormey co-chaired the Trade and Investment Program.They were said to have caused the transfer of $400,000 during his tenure in office as Minister from a TIP interest account lodged with ECOBANK Ghana Limited into the personal account of the project consultant, Dr. Frederick Boadu.The amount was in respect of a feasibility study for the establishment of a Science and Technology Community Park/Valley Project which was meant to enhance the export of non-traditional products.By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi