BNI in guatanamo tactics

Kwadwo Mpiani The Deputy Minister for Information, James Agyenim Boateng, was stripped naked on the multiple lies he told the media in the wake of the unlawful detention of Kwadwo Mpiani, former Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

The Deputy Minister, himself a journalist, did not only slap the profession he used to love most in the face by lying through his teeth that the detained and psychologically tortured reporters of the DAILY GUIDE were merely educated on security matters, but was also economical with the truth over the detention of the former Minister.

Contrary to the claims of Mr. Boateng on radio that Mr. Mpiani was questioned in the presence of his lawyers, it rather turned out that the ten-hour interrogation was done in the manner akin to the Guatanamo Bay tactics adopted by American interrogation of Al-Qaeda suspects.

Sources from behind the iron curtain hinted that middle-level BNI officers had been instructed from above to break their victim down by fishing for multiple answers out of the multiple questions they would ask.

“Mr. Mpiani was not taken to any secret location that his legal team was unaware of or was not present at. The only time he was taken outside the BNI facilities was when the questioning ended sometime after 10pm yesterday. Mr. Mpiani was never detained; he was not arrested, and he was free to leave after the questioning,” claimed Agyenim Boateng.

But speaking to Citi FM on what transpired within the high walls of the BNI headquarters, Mr. Yoni Kulendi, leader of Mpiani's legal team, denied the claims of the Deputy Minister, calling it a blatant lie.

According to him, in spite of several pleas to be present, they were completely isolated from the interrogation process, saying what took place within the high walls was travesty of justice.

Egbert Faibille, another member of the legal team, also revealed that he and his colleagues were kept four doors away from their client while he was subjected to over ten hours of hot and cold interrogation.

The man at the centre of the controversy also told the media he was kept away from anyone he knew.

“When I was in there, the guys (BNI officials) came and said, 'Chief, your people say we are injecting you. They say we are killing you. I said they support me, and that is why they are saying that,” he reportedly said.

It is recalled that the former Chief of Staff was invited to the BNI headquarters on Tuesday and grilled for several hours, until Agyenim Boateng revealed his detention was in connection with the Ghana @ 50 celebration and what he described as 'a wide range of issues'.

It also came out that he was questioned over Zoomlion contracts, sale of state lands, Ghana International Airlines and the UNCTAD Conference hosted by Ghana in 2008.

The former Minister was grilled for the second day running yesterday, this time for close to six hours.

He arrived at the BNI office with his three lawyers, but the paper gathered a fourth lawyer joined them later.

Just as happened on Tuesday, a large crowd of sympathizers stormed the BNI headquarters yesterday to show solidarity with him, with many of them chanting war songs and calling for his immediate release.

When news broke out at exactly 6.45pm yesterday that he was released, the supporters went into frenzy. The visibly cheerful Mpiani was driven home in a metallic black Rover saloon car.

DAILY GUIDE is reliably informed that he has been asked to re-appear for the third part of the grilling tomorrow. Inside sources told the paper the real interrogation had just started, and that what happened on Tuesday was a tip of the iceberg.

Among the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) gurus who showed solidarity with him on the second day ware Ambrose Dery, Kwamena Bartels, Papa Owusu Ankoma, Dr. Osei Akoto, Elizabeth Sackey, Joe Osei-Wusu, Frank Agyekum, Adamu Daramani, and many others.

By Bennett Akuaku