Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has waded into speculations that a government official has been arrested in the United Kingdom (UK).

Reports broke out that a Ghanaian government official had been arrested by UK authorities in Britain for attempting to smuggle £26 million into the country.

Kwesi Pratt, responding to the issue on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', left a short note to the peddlers of the story wondering how one could fabricate such a story.

He asked the storytellers if they think he and the many Ghanaians are dumb to believe such a hoax.

"Because if you don't think we're stupid, how do you tell us that someone has packed 26 million pounds in a suitcase to board a plane? Twenty-six (26) million pounds is not small money; unless we use a crane to gather such money and so on'', he said in amusement.

Mr. Pratt suspected some political hands behind the story.

Information Minister Debunks Claims

Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has also refuted the claims.

Speaking on Takoradi-based Skyy Power FM on Monday, the Minister accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of fabricating the news as part of their planned propaganda ahead of the December 7, polls.

“No government official has been arrested in the UK. It is a total fabrication and we are clear in our minds that it is a fabrication by the NDC and it is part of their strategy for these last eight weeks where they will churning out a lot of fabrication, lies, and fake audiotapes. We are clear in our minds that it is the NDC for one or two reasons. The first person to articulate it publicly is the Honorable Inusah Fusieni, an NDC Member of Parliament.

“They are the ones who are championing it and articulating it on their online media platforms including Radio Gold online. And now you can also find that there is a fake audiotape that purports to be a piece of international news broadcast on it which is being circulated since last night,” he said.

He called on Ghanaians to ignore the news.

“We are calling on first of all the media and the general Ghanaian public to not fall for these fabrications and fake doctored or cooked up tapes that they are going to be churning out in the next eight weeks as we get ready for the elections,” he added.