A former Deputy Attorney-General, Joseph Kpemka says the arrest of the former Minister of Environment, Science and Technology by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, was lawful.

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 on Thursday, June 8, Mr 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.”

It emerged on Wednesday June 7, that Prof Frimpong-Boateng, who doubled as Chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), was arrested on May 2023 by the OSP.

According to reports, Prof Frimpong-Boateng who had been invited by the OSP to answer questions related to suspected corruption and corruption-related offences involving the dissolved IMCIM, was eventually arrested and granted a GHS2 million bail.

Prior to his arrest, he had authored a revealing report which suggested that during his tenure as Chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), efforts to combat ‘galamsey’ were interfered with by some persons in government, which undermined his work.

On the back of this, the professor in an interview with JoyNews on Wednesday, June 7, stated that he felt victimised over his invitation by the OSP which eventually led to his arrest.

He insisted that he did nothing wrong to warrant the treatment being meted out to him.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng, however, maintained that he is not afraid to face prosecution by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

The Special Prosecutor, on the other hand, has assured that it will take the “necessary actions” against all persons cited for being indulged in corrupt activities is Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s report.