O.B Amoah Arrested

A former deputy Minister of Sports during the Kufuor administration, O. B Amoah, has been arrested and charged with corruption and willfully causing financial loss to the state, in connection with the controversial GhC51 million judgment debt payment to embattled businessman Alfred Woyome.

Mr. Amoah was picked up on Sunday night at his Parakou Estates residence, near Dome, and was whisked away to the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters.

A family friend of the Amoahs, lawyer Godfred Dame, confirmed the arrest of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Aburi-Nsawam to Citi News.

Reports reaching Citifmonline. com indicate that several NPP bigwigs rushed to the CID headquarters to sympathise with their colleague with some staying into the wee hours of Monday.

Speaking to Citi Fm’s Richard Sky just before 9pm GMT on Sunday, the lawyer said the MP was picked up by heavily “armed police men” in the presence of his wife.

Mr Dame broke the news on Citi FM shortly after the emotionally “disturbed” wife of the Deputy Minority spokesperson on Youth and Sports called him on phone to break news of her husband's arrest to him.

He quoted the Aburi-Nsawam MP's wife as having told him that the police cited the Woyome saga as basis for Hon. Amoah's arrest.

Mr Dame condemned the Sunday night arrest, wondering why the state will go after the legislator instead of the likes of former Attorney General, Betty Mould -Iddrisu and Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, under whose watch Mr. Woyome was paid the Ghc51 million judgment debt.

Hon. Amoah is on record to have authorised Waterville to move to the Accra Sports Stadium to begin construction works after it emerged that the Kufuor government had decided to give the Dutch company the contract to renovate the edifice ahead of the CAN 2008 tournament.

Hon. Amoah's arrest brings to five the number of people charged in the never-ending case. Mr. Woyome and three others - Chief State Attorney, Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh and his wife Gifty Nerquaye-Tetteh as well as Mr. Paul Asimenu, a Director at the Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning are currently facing six charges.

The four have been granted bail and report to the police twice weekly.