Ohene Kwame Frimpong
The Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has disclosed that the arrest warrant leading to the detention of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akyem North, Ohene Kwame Frimpong, was issued by authorities in the United States on April 26, 2026.
According to Mr. Dafeamekpor, information available to the MP’s legal team indicates that the warrant was linked to an investigation involving the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), although Ghanaian authorities are yet to receive any official communication detailing the alleged offence.
“The FBI has not communicated officially to us yet on his offence. But his lawyers said the warrant was issued on the 26th of April,” the Majority Chief Whip stated in an interview with TV3.
He explained that the detained legislator was intercepted by Dutch security officials at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on Sunday morning while transiting to the United Kingdom on a KLM flight from Accra.
Mr. Dafeamekpor dismissed reports suggesting that the MP was travelling to the United States on a Delta Airlines flight, describing such claims as inaccurate.
“The Honourable Member was not travelling to the US on Delta Airlines on Friday. He was on a private visit to the United Kingdom. His wife and children live in London, so he frequently travels there,” he clarified.
He recounted that the MP departed Accra on Saturday evening aboard a KLM flight and arrived at Schiphol Airport around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday. During transit procedures, he was reportedly stopped, questioned and later detained by security operatives around 6:30 a.m.
The Majority Chief Whip said Parliament had since moved swiftly to secure legal representation for the detained lawmaker.
He revealed that a Ghanaian lawyer based in The Hague, Joe Appiah, had been engaged in consultation with Ghana’s Ambassador to the Netherlands to handle the matter.
“A private lawyer has been procured for him in the person of Joe Appiah. And he has told us the MP hasn’t been harmed, and he is doing well,” Mr. Dafeamekpor stated.
He further disclosed that he had personally asked the MP whether he had engaged in any activity that could have attracted the FBI’s attention, to which the legislator reportedly responded in the negative.
“I asked him whether he had done anything to warrant the FBI’s attention, and he said no,” he added.
Meanwhile, Parliament on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, officially confirmed the detention in a statement signed by the Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror.
The statement indicated that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, had been briefed on the development and that the leadership of the House was working closely with Ghana’s Mission in the Netherlands to obtain full details surrounding the incident.
By Ernest Kofi Adu