Former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and lawyer, Freddie Blay, has recounted his traumatic arrest and imprisonment years ago.

According to him, it was an awful and painful experience.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Joy Prime’s Roselyn Felli, the ace politician narrated the reason behind his arrest, saying it was not valid because he did not commit any offence to warrant his incarceration.'

“Honestly, I did nothing that should have gotten me even arrested. What happened was that they were looking for Kweku Baako and a few friends who they thought were a danger and a rival movement to the then Rawling’s government, which was taking over power from this country. Kweku Baako had come to visit me because the place was becoming a bit dangerous, and he’s been advised to leave town.

"He wanted to go to Abijan by road. So, he asked my permission, and I said, Why not? I have a house in Takoradi; he can go and live there and continue his journey. Not that they were looking for him officially, but he really felt threatened,” he reminisced.

Unfortunately, Mr. Blay’s kind gesture contributed to his apprehension because he was suspected of being an accomplice of Kweku Baako’s team.

“I was kept at the barracks for about two to three months and sent to Ho Prisons, where I stayed for about seven more months, and then brought to Usher Fort for about a month or two. Afterwards, I was freed. I was happy to be freed because the experience was bad." 

“They gave me severe beatings, and fortunately, they saw Kweku Baako in my house, arrested him, and started shooting in the house. At that time, my wife, who was then my girlfriend, and we were getting closer to marriage had a miscarriage there and then because of the way they were shooting around. They carried myself and Kweku Baako back to Accra and put us in custody just because he was my friend and had been kept in my house,” Mr. Blay further narrated.

As to whether he was told what crime Kweku Baako had committed, the former NPP chairman replied, “No.”

However, the trauma he encountered never deterred his ambitions towards politics, as he strived to be one of the most renowned politicians in Ghana.

Freddie Blay became the chairman of the NPP in 2018.