Ghana's former leader Jerry Rawlings says he has been questioned by the country's national investigating agency after he urged Ghanaians to "defy" President John Kufuor's government.

Speaking to BBC News Online, Mr Rawlings confirmed that he was questioned by police on Tuesday morning.

We don't have to wait for the next election to prevent the rot

Jerry Rawlings

Mr Rawlings, a former flight-lieutenant, ruled Ghana for 19 years. His party lost presidential elections in late 2000, and John Kufuor took power in January 2001.

"Yes, I was summoned and I obliged, " Mr Rawlings said, but insisted that the entire questioning lasted for only five minutes.

He said that he was sent to three different places before meeting the panel of seven officers from the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI).

"They did not allow me to tape the proceedings or keep my aide in the room," Mr Rawlings said.

"For most of the time I lectured them about what I said and what it meant for this country."

He said the police warned him he could be summoned again.

'Unlawful order'

In a speech he made in Kumasi, northwest of the capital, Accra, Mr Rawlings is said to have accused Mr Kufuor's government of corruption and urged Ghanaians to practise what he termed "positive defiance."

"We don't have to wait for the next election to prevent the rot," Mr Rawlings said, referring to presidential elections set for 2004.

Correspondents say Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah's use of "positive defiance" against British colonial authorities led to independence in 1957.

Ghana's Information Minister Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey took issue with Mr Rawlings' remarks.

"The statements he was making were irresponsible and provocative," he told BBC's Network on Africa Programme.

Kufuor's government is investigating human rights abuses under Rawlings

"There is nothing wrong in criticising the government. But there is something that is very provocative in calling for 'positive defiance'.

"What does he mean by 'positive defiance'?"

Mr Rawlings, who has staged two coups in the past, also accused Kufuor's New Patriotic Party (NPP) of lying and called it "the worst government the country has ever had."

In May, President Kufuor inaugurated a South African-style National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to look into human rights abuses under Mr Rawlings.