Former Public Relations and External Affairs Director of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Nana Yaa Jantuah, has revealed shocking details of her treatment during arrest and detention by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), now the National Intelligence Bureau.
On May 12, 2017, Nana Yaa Jantuah and Samuel Sarpong, Executive Secretary of PURC, were summoned by the BNI for questioning regarding alleged financial malfeasance and were released on bail the next day.
During her interview on Face to Face on Channel One TV, Nana Yaa Jantuah described her ordeal, including being stripped naked and left with minimal clothing.
“I remember when all the issues were going on, they took me to BNI and all manner of places, Economic and Organised Crime Office, Criminal Investigations Department, everywhere to investigate me. And my chairman told Dr Mahamudu Bawumia that don’t do this to this girl. We have trained her in engineering, we have trained her in tariffs, if you let her go. You’re throwing away an asset.
“I’m pleading with you, don’t let her go, because if she goes, this sector is going to suffer. I was almost like an anchor, I call this person, that person, whenever there was an issue. I mean I wanted everybody to be alright.
“…I think one day I got up and said what is actually going on? They took me to BNI, stripped me naked, put me in a cell, put handcuffs on me,” she said.
She recounted her chairman’s plea to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia not to dismiss her due to her expertise in engineering and tariffs, which she believes was disregarded to the detriment of the sector.
“Thursday, I went to church and was praying to God to help me to forgive. Because it just flashed into my mind and I remembered how a lady said what is the colour of your of hair, eyes, remove everything and then they put a gap on me and sent me to the cell. I asked myself, is that how Ghana thanks you when you leave everything, and you serve your people? she asked.
Reflecting on her experience, she spoke of seeking divine guidance to forgive those responsible for her arrest and the trauma she endured.
“I was in a wheelchair, I was admitted, nothing was working in my body, I had an infection, bacteria reddened my body. they gave me an old mattress in the cell. I picked the bacteria from there, very stubborn bacteria…Everybody thought I was gone but I survived it.”
“I reported to BNI for three years, it’s like you have been incarcerated.”