Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has expressed the need for a national probe into the report released by the former Chairman of the defunct Inter-ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining, Prof. Frimpong Boateng on the activity of government’s fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.
According to him, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s report to the President on the failed work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, which was set up by President Akufo-Addo to fight the illegal mining menace, confirms that the whole “fight was a fraudulent” one.
He revealed that it was shrouded in a “well-calculated ruse” to enable key government officials and functionaries at the Presidency to dabble in the very illicit business of galamsey.
“To confirm the grand collusion, despite a Cabinet directive in 2019 to suspend the issuance of new licenses and permits, more illegal miners, including Chinese gangs, entered Ghana’s forest reserves with the help of government officials, and the destruction of Ghana’s forests and environment continued unabated. These revealing issues and several others in the damning report call for a national probe.”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
Dr Forson noted that despite the President placing a moratorium on April 1, 2017, suspending all artisanal and small-scale mining in the country for a total period of one year and three months, in 2018, the government, acting through the Forestry Commission and Ministry of Lands, somehow “contrived to give out all forest reserves in Ghana for mining activities”.
Meanwhile, the member of parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate violations of fundamental human rights, alleged corrupt practices, issues of conflict of interest and abuse of public office by certain public officials and others cited in the report of the Work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
The petition filed by lawyers for Mr Dafeamekpor also expressed the need for CHRAJ to investigate allegations of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of office made by Charles Bissue, the former secretary of the IMCIM, against Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former chairman of the IMCIM, in respect of matters involving some 500 excavators that supposedly went missing around February 2020.
In the petition dated April 25, 2023, it cited the report of the IMCIM dated 19th March 2021 which is confirmed to have been authored by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, revealing various public officials and other individuals for corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of public office.
South Dayi MP petitions CHRAJ to investigate claims in report
The petition lamented that activity of illegal mining is destroying the country’s waterbodies and degrading forest reserves at an alarming rate. It explained that Ghanaians depend on the environment for sustenance and therefore, a safe, clean, health and sustainable environment is a fundamental human right.
“Given the seriousness of the allegation, it is only fair and proper that your good office conducts a full scale investigation to establish the veracity or otherwise of the allegations.”
Lawyer for South Dayi MP
Furthermore, the petition urged CHRAJ to make the investigation and subsequent findings public to the media and Ghanaians at large. It elaborated that this is due to the widespread public interest in the report following its release.
Additionally, it emphasized that for the sake of “transparency, openness, probity and accountability”, the Commission must publish its findings.
“It is the prayer of our client that your office will give this petition the necessary attention it deserves, and investigate these claims to ascertain their truth or otherwise and to take all the appropriate steps to ensure that the persons named herein, if culpable, are dealt with in accordance with law.”
Lawyer for South Dayi MP
Elsewhere, member of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Kudzo Tameklo, has criticized government, requesting President Akufo-Addo to address the nation and apologise for the failure in fighting illegal mining. He highlighted that the content of Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng’s report only exhibits the incompetence of the current administration.
“[Prof] Frimpong-Boateng is more credible than the entire government,” he stated, adding that “Ghanaians believe that when it comes to credibility, this government does not have one. Akufo-Addo is not only an accomplice but also a defender of companies engaged in galamsey.”
Godwin Edudzi Kudzo Tameklo
