Retired police officer ACP Benjamin Agordzo

Retired police officer, ACP Benjamin Agordzo, has spoken about his ordeal during a five-year long trial about an alleged coup plot in which he was implicated with the late medical doctor Frederick Mac Palm and others.

In an explosive interview on Pan African TV’s Talk Time Show on July 13, 2025, ACP Benjamin Agordzo spoke candidly with Kwesi Pratt Jr, offering his account of the genesis of his five-year trial for an alleged coup plot.

Agordzo's revelations painted a picture of calculated targeting and a system potentially leveraged to silence dissenting voices.

Agordzo recalled the initial contact that set the stage for his ordeal.

"In all of this trial, I want to state on record that I was persecuted. In early November 2019, I received a call from the then Inspector General of Police (IGP) with a sense of urgency in his voice. It was a Thursday and he asked me to see him on Friday," he recountered.

Agordzo, however, insisted on going on Monday but the very next day, he found himself implicated in news reports that he had been invited to the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) then Bureau of National Investigation (BNI).

"The next day, it was in the news that I was invited but has been granted bail...when I was not there on Friday. Then I knew that some scheming was ongoing," he said.

This immediate public narrative, he suggested, was a clear sign of pre-meditated actions against him.

A key point of contention during his interrogation was the attempt to separate him from his legal counsel.

As an ACP, Agordzo noted, "They wanted to separate me from my lawyer. They have been using it against people but I insisted my lawyer stayed with me at the interrogation room. For other people, after they are isolated and interrogated, then they will come out and say that you admitted to the crime and use it against you in court."

His steadfast refusal to be interrogated alone emphasised his awareness of potential manipulative tactics.

Addressing the core of the alleged coup plot, Agordzo confirmed his presence on a WhatsApp platform associated with the Dr Frederick Mac Palm, the primary accused.

However, he clarified, "There was no discussion of coup. I knew that the doctor was on a medical outreach, so, I gave him GHc2,000 to support the cause."

He further explained that the prosecution claimed there was "another platform that the alleged coup was plotted included lawyers, journalists, top professionals who also supported the cause with even dollars."

Agordzo questioned why his GHc2,000 in particular, was singled out as supporting a coup, highlighting a perceived bias in the interpretation of actions.

He also addressed the misinterpretation of language.

"In our part of the world, when you talk about the shortfall of presidency, it doesn't mean the president per se but the entire system being critiqued but they attributed it to the president. So, they take it personal and come after you," he said.

This distinction, he argued, was crucial but overlooked, leading to a personalisation of systemic critiques.

When asked about the specific allegations leveled against him, Agordzo stated, "They said I had written a speech to incite coup and given money to support it. They also said I had spoken about the Arab Spring to instigate an uproar against the presidency."

He clarified that at the time, the group was planning to protest the violence that occurred at the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, and the content of his message to the late Dr Mac Palm was subsequently used to link him to the alleged plot.

Agordzo also refuted claims of direct involvement with another key figure in the coup trial.

"I did not know Gameli but they said, I had met Gameli and Mac Palm to plan the coup and it was being published in the media," he decried.

The constant "peddling of falsehood" in the media and the subsequent charge of "abetment for high treason," he stated, were designed to ensure that the system would "not be charitable" with him.

Despite immense pressure to remain silent, Agordzo affirmed his determination to speak out after his acquittal.

"It has happened to a lot of people most of whom have kept quiet on such matters. I had a lot of calls urging me to stay quiet and not speak about it. I will not keep quiet so that others can learn from it. I know that not many people can withstand what I have gone through, but at least I want as many people to know the injustices of the system and learn from it," he said.

Background

The late Dr Mac-Palm together with two others; Ezor Kafui and Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu, was on Friday, September 20, 2019, picked up by a joint team from the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) for plotting a coup against the presidency with the intent to destabilise the country

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in a press release revealed how state agencies detected and foiled a planned attack on the Jubilee House leading to the retrieval of several arms, explosive devices, and ammunition from Alajo and Bawaleshie in Accra and Dodowa respectfully.

Following the alleged coup attempt, the three accused persons were on September 24 arraigned before the Kaneshie District Court and slapped with five charges.

Some of the charges they’re faced with are conspiracy to commit crimes; to wit manufacturing of arms and ammunition without lawful authority, possessing explosives and firearms without lawful excuse, and manufacture of firearms without lawful authority.

But reacting to the charges after court proceedings, Dr Mac-Palm while being escorted by the BNI to his vehicle shouted by pleading innocent to the charges levelled against him.

According to him, he knows the truth will definitely come out for him to be vindicated so he is not in any way bothered about the whole issue.

However, the Kaneshie District Court presided over by the magistrate, Rosemond Dodua Agyiri, has remanded the alleged coup plotters into BNI custody and ordered that family members and lawyers be allowed to visit the accused persons.

This follows after the prosecutor, ASP Sylvester Asare asked the court to remand the three suspects into BNI custody to enable them to continue with investigations smoothly.

The request was objected to by the defence attorneys who argued that the State should have been ready to prosecute the case if any, due to the number of days the accused person has been with them. But the magistrate granted the request by the prosecution and urged them to expedite their investigations

The case was adjourned to October 9, 2019. A fourth suspect only named as Sulley is currently on the run.

A three-member panel of judges of an Accra High Court discharged and acquitted Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Benjamin Agordzo, Colonel Samuel Kodzo Gameli and one other junior military officer, Corporal Seidu Abubakar.

ACP Agordzo and the other military personnel were among the ten (10) alleged coup plotters on counts of conspiracy to commit high treason and committing high treason.

VPO/EB

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