Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has clapped back at Lawyer Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, over the leaked report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
In the report, Prof Frimpong-Boateng, who chaired the Committee, cited Gabby Otchere-Darko for calling him on phone to defend a mining company, destroying Ghana’s vegetation. “What saddened me most was when Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko called to defend a company that was actively destroying the environment, especially the forests and River Offin in the Apaprama and Kobro Forests,” he averred.
However, the known New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawyer, replied the respected heart surgeon in an interview, accusing him of having a weak understanding of his position.
Gabby Otchere-Darko claimed that Prof Frimpong-Boateng, reporting him to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was a non-starter because the President is a lawyer and would not just act on such verbal complaint.
In a reply to this, Prof Frimpong-Boateng pointed out that Mr. Otchere-Darko only exhibited industrial-scale ignorance about mining laws and regulations. “After listening to the words of Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, I became sad for Ghana,” the cardio surgeon wrote.
“I wondered what happened to us to get to this state, where a person who is supposed to be a lawyer to a mining company, exhibited such industrial-scale ignorance about mining laws and regulations.”
Prof Frimpong-Boateng
Prof Frimpong-Boateng reminded the renowned lawyer and entrepreneur that his client had a strong history of acting with impunity. “Mr Otchere-Darko,I don’t think you have retrograde amnesia but I still want to refresh your memory about the destruction of the environment that had been perpetrated by your client, over the years with the accompanying pictures and videos from Diaso forest and Apaprama,” he explained.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng pointed out that per the destruction caused by Gabby Otchere-Darko’s client, they should have been prosecuted and probably jailed by now.
Kwakye Ofosu Describes Akufo-Addo’s Preparedness To Put The Presidency On The Line Comment, As The Greatest Deception
Former Deputy Minister of Information, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, described the Presidency under the Akufo-Addo administrations, as “illegal small scale mining (Galamsey).”
He claimed the President’s previous comment that he was putting his presidency on the line, in order to fight galamsey, was the greatest deception ever made by anyone in the struggle against the menace.
It is recalled that in 2017, President Akufo-Addo served notice that he was prepared to put his Presidency on the line in his quest to fight galamsey.
Addressing a two-day workshop on galamsey for traditional leaders drawn from different parts of the country in Accra on Monday, July 11, 2017, the President said: “I have said it in the Cabinet, and perhaps this is the first time I am making this public, that I am prepared to put my Presidency on the line on this matter.
“If, by the Grace of God, my party allows me to go again and I have the health and everything to go again but do not get it again, then I will say to myself: ‘Well, this is a choice I have to make as a human being.’ Do you do what is right or what you think will make you get along? I think you do what is right and what you are required to do.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
However, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu stated that this is the greatest deception. His comments follow the allegation of wrongdoing on the part of some government appointees in the fight against Galamsey, by Prof Frimpong-Boateng.
The Presidency has however, said that the report of the IMCIM could only be rightly referred to as a catalogue of personal grievances and claims made by Professor Frimpong-Boateng. The Jubilee House also claimed that it was intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM.
A statement issued by the Presidency on Saturday, April, 22, stated the document was handed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President on March 19th 2021, in an informal meeting, where Prof. Frimpong-Boateng complained about public attacks and criticisms made during his tenure, as Chairperson of the IMCIM.
This was after Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s tenure as Minister had not been renewed by the President of the Republic in his second term. “The document did not have a transmittal or cover letter nor, indeed, an addressee, such as to suggest that it was submitted to the Chief of Staff for action. It is noteworthy that the IMCIM was a creature of Cabinet, and any formal report on its activities would, normally, be submitted to Cabinet through the Cabinet Secretary, or directly to the President of the Republic as Chairperson of Cabinet. Till date, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng has done neither,” the statement said.
“It is important also to point out that, whilst Prof. Frimpong-Boateng makes serious allegations against some government appointees, as having been involved in, supporting or interfering with the fight against illegal mining, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated.
“Indeed, the allegations contained in the document are at best hearsay. It is instructive that since Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s meeting with the Chief of Staff in March, 2021, he has taken no step nor acted in furtherance of the matters contained in the document.”
The Office of the President
READ ALSO: Presidency’s Commitment To Fight Against Galamsey Unassailable – Jubilee House
