I am not a kidnapper – Ofosu-Ampofo denies 2019 allegations

Former National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has vehemently denied ever being behind kidnappings in Ghana.

In 2019, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who once served as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, was picked up by the police on allegations of having a hand in kidnappings at the time.

He was arrested and his house was searched as part of police investigations.

A police statement at the time said, "the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is investigating various acts of kidnapping and causing unlawful damage in which credible and actionable intelligence makes Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo a suspect."

The statement, signed and issued by the then Public Relations Officer of the CID, DSP Ms. Juliana Obeng, said the CID obtained an arrest and search warrant following Mr. Ofosu-Ampofo's refusal to cooperate with the CID in its investigations.

"On 11th June 2019 at about 15:00hrs, the CID executed the said warrant by arresting Mr. Ofosu-Ampofo at No.3 Church Street Labone, Accra," the police statement said.

But on August 1, 2024, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo speaking in an interview on Starr FM monitored by GhanaWeb, insisted that he has never been involved in any kidnapping incident.

He added that he has always been a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record against him.

"I want to put it on record that I am not a kidnapper because sometimes you go on social media, they call me 'Elder Kidnapper'. Because somebody somewhere decided to frame me up and said I was behind the kidnapping of some Canadian girls in Kumasi.

"And that I bought a Range Rover for the guy who was in charge of the kidnapping. I am using a 2012 Toyota Sequoia and the kidnapper is using a 2019 Range Rover? So if I had that much money, wouldn't I buy the Range Rover for myself and drive, and would rather buy it for a kidnapper?

"Recently, I went on Wikipedia and I was crying. It was everywhere that I was involved in kidnapping. I want to put it on record that I was not involved in any kidnapping. I think at the end of the day, the story came out and there was not any association with me at all," Ofosu Ampofo stated.

KA/OGB

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