Former minister in Ghana arrested

Ghana’s former Foreign Minister Akwasi Osei-Adjei has been charged with causing financial loss to the state.

Mr Osei-Adjei has been under investigation over rice imports from India earlier this year. In an interview with the BBC, the former minister said he had not been informed of the exact details of the charges, but he denied any wrongdoing. Mr Osei-Adjei had previously taken the government to court after he had his passport seized during the inquiry.

The BBC’s James Afedo in the capital, Accra, says several members of the previous government are being investigated for alleged corruption. Mr Osei-Adjei is the first official from ex-President John Kufuor’s administration to be formally charged, he says.

The former minister told the BBC’s Network Africa programme that prosecutors had not informed him why he was being summoned to the Bureau of National Investigation.

“I knew we had a case pending in court so I thought perhaps they wanted to talk to me about how we could resolve the issue,” he said.

“Never in my wildest dreams [did I think] they were going to arrest me and charge me.

“To go the extent of labelling me, that I caused financial loss, I don’t seem to accept it,” he said.

He was released on a $333,000 (£203,000) bail and said a hearing date had been set for Friday.

Mr Kufuor stood down as president after serving the maximum two terms after his ruling party narrowly lost elections in December.

BBC.