The Deputy Attorney General has confirmed that the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) is investigating former Energy and Education Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, known as NAPO.

This follows the former education minister's revelation during a media engagement on June 5 that he had been invited about twice to the NIB headquarters to answer questions relating to his four-year role as Education Minister from 2017-2021.

However, Dr Justice Srem Sai said his invitation by the investigating body doesn't make him a criminal.

“He said he’s been going to NIB for a while now. Nobody knew until he said it publicly,” Dr Srem Sai noted on JoyNews’ PM Express on Wednesday, June 11 night.

The probe he mentioned was into the NAPO's tenure as an Education and Energy Minister under the Akufo-Addo-led administration, citing his ministry's procurement of mathematical sets for Senior High School students across Ghana.

“A number of things,” he said when asked what the probe was about.

“He was a minister for Energy and Education…so definitely, we have projects that were undertaken during his time. And so he would definitely be answering questions in respect of that.”

One such issue involves the infamous “mathematical sets” procurement, which fell under the Education Ministry.

However, Dr Srem Sai clarified that being invited to be questioned doesn’t mean you’re guilty.

“You will not be prosecuted unless there is evidence that you were complicit in some of the things you undertook,” he stressed.

“The fact that you’re a minister at the time doesn’t mean that you will be criminally liable for anything.”

He cited the example of the controversial Sky Train project.

“Former AG and later Railway Minister Joe Ghartey at one point was invited. But he explained his side of the story. When you look at the charge sheet for Sky Train, he’s not on it.”

He cautioned that just because a minister is supposed to oversee something doesn’t automatically mean they are personally to blame if something goes wrong.

“There are things that can happen in the ministry which may not be your doing,” he said. “And the fact that you have been invited for questioning doesn’t mean that you are guilty.”

He was also full of praise for how many government officials are cooperating with investigative processes without media fanfare.

“I appreciate the demeanour of a lot of the government appointees,” he noted.

“Once in a while, you hear that someone has been picked up, or someone has been invited…But I can tell you, a large number of the persons who have been arrested, now on bail, who are under investigation, are quiet.”

He said these officials respect the process. “They will not make any noise about it. Some of them believe that the process must be followed.”

Though a few people “come in the media” and cause “massing up to go to EOCO,” Dr Srem Sai said most do what the law requires without drama.

“You go to court when the evidence shows that there’s a crime,” he concluded.

It will be recalled that in 2019, reports indicated that the Ministry of Education awarded a US$60 million contract for the supply of mathematical sets to Senior High School students across Ghana.

The contract was sole-sourced to Bluegrass Group Ltd, which was responsible for delivering 853,009 units annually at a unit cost of GH¢75.

Meanwhile, NAPO is not the only former government official who is currently under investigations for actions and inactions during his tenure as a government official.

The likes of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta are currently being investigated for their alleged financial misconduct related to projects such as the National Cathedral, the GRA-SML contract, and the ECG-BXC agreement.

Christopher Ameyaw-Ekumfi (former Board Chairman of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund) and Solomon Asamoah (former CEO of GIIF) are facing legal proceedings over a $2 million payment made for feasibility studies on the Accra SkyTrain project, which was never completed.