The National Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Office of the Special Prosecutor to probe the report by the former Environment Minister, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng on the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.
Addressing the press on Tuesday, April 25 during one of the NDCs Moment of Truth series, Mr Gyamfi said that all government officials cited in the report and alleged t be involved in illegal mining must be brought to book.
“The Special Prosecutor on his part must act with alacrity by probing the Frimpong-Boateng galamsey report and prosecute all government officials, NPP functionaries and persons who have perpetrated serious crimes against the State as contained in the report,” he pointed out.
He explained that Ghanaians deserve this probe due to the “millions of taxpayers’ money that have gone down the drain in the name of fighting illegal mining.”
“Now that it has been confirmed that all the so-called fight was a charade, our nation stands united in crying for justice,” he added.
Mr Gyamfi also called on Parliament to institute a publicly-televised and bi-partisan enquiry into Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s report.
This, in his view, is the only way to establish the truth and get to the bottom of the issues contained in the report.
According to him, the NDC will fiercely resist anything short of a bi-partisan probe.
Sammy Gyamfi noted that the NDC shall formally submit a request to both Parliament and the Office of the Special Prosecutor to initiate the necessary investigations into Aljazeera’s Gold Mafia documentary as it relates to Ghana and the Galamsey report of Prof. Frimpong Boateng.
“It is our fervent hope and firm belief that, these very serious issues will not be swept under the carpet, and that the Special Prosecutor and Parliament will rise to the occasion in order to stop the continuous desecration of our Presidency and environment by President Akufo-Addo, his Vice, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia and the ruling New Patriotic Party,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi’s call follow a report by the former Environment Minister, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng citing some government officials and persons close to the presidency as having hampered his galamsey fight and some of who were actually involved in galamsey or protecting lawbreakers.
Meanwhile, the Office of the President in a statement pointed out alleged technical defects with the document authored by the former minister despite admitting it was submitted to the Chief of Staff in 2021.
It also labelled the allegations levelled at some top government officials in the 36-page document on the fight against illegal mining as hearsay.
According to the statement, even though Prof Frimpong-Boateng who also served as chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) made serious allegations against some appointees, to have supported or interfered with the fight against illegal mining, there has not been any evidence submitted to prove the allegations.
The government indicated that as a result, it is unable to properly investigate the claims and allegations highlighted in the document.
