The ruling New Patriotic Party's Director of Communications has suggested that the 2021 report on illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) authored by former environment minister, Prof' Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has been referred to the police for investigations.
The said report alleged in many parts direct and indirect complicity on the part of government and party officials in galamsey and in frustrating the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) which the former minister was chairman of.
In a tweet dated April 26, 2023; Ahiagbah slammed a press conference by the main opposition National Democratic Congress demanding a probe by the Special Prosecutor and Parliament into the report which was authored in 2021.
He intimated further that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Adddo had referred the 36-page report to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Police for independent investigation.
"On Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng's document, as a party, we support the President's prompt referral of the document to the CID, for an independent investigation. That is the democratic way, and the NDC is fully aware.
"The fight against galamsey is existential, but sadly the NDC has never seen it as such. The NDC sees it first as politics, an avenue to canvass votes either by way of promising galamseyers more galamsey when they ever win power or to do what they did yesterday in the press conference to besmirch the character of the people cited in the document on the weight of simple claims," his tweet read in part.
The last time the presidency reacted to the report was via a statement over the weekend, alleging that the document was not official and that it contained a catalogue of grievances of Prof. Frimpong-Boateng and could best be described as hearsay.
The Presidency also tagged the document as not being an official report before Cabinet as it was submitted in an informal way.
“At the outset, it must be pointed out that the document being discussed was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President. On the contrary, it can only be rightly referred to as a catalogue of personal grievances and claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM.”
“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 about his tenure as Chairperson of the IMCIM,” the statement read.
GhanaWeb has been unable, so far, to verify the referral of the report to the police CID.
Read Ahiagbah's full post below:
The pointlessness of the NDC's press conference yesterday is legendary.
The Al Jazeera documentary has been effectively discredited so, I wonder why they were talking spiritedly about it.
On Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng's document, as a party, we support the President's prompt referral of the document to the CID, for an independent investigation. That is the democratic way, and the NDC is fully aware.
The fight against galamsey is existential, but sadly the NDC has never seen it as such. The NDC sees it first as politics, an avenue to canvass votes either by way of promising galamseyers more galamsey when they ever win power or to do what they did yesterday in the press conference to besmirch the character of the people cited in the document on the weight of simple claims.
The individuals especially, the Information Minister, has responded to state his innocence, but the NDC simply refused to acknowledge it or be restrained it. Instead, the NDC went full hog to display their pictures as though they have been found culpable of anything.
What would it have cost the NDC to have waited for the CID to complete its investigation and render its report for public scrutiny? Perhaps, the NDC is not aware that President Akufo-Addo has referred Prof. Boateng's report to the CID.
The NPP, unlike the NDC, is committed to the fight against galamsey, and thus far has made considerable gains. But certainly, there is a lot more that needs to be done and all of us must pinch in. It is my humble appeal to all Ghanaians to get involved by reporting galamsey activities, learn about its dire implications for our very existence, and on that basis speak objectively against galamsey.
The NDC must learn to keep certain things above partisan politics and galamsey is one of such things. We know the NDC's record on galamsey is criminal, to put it mildly. The fight against galamsey proceeds without fear or favor. Let's all get involve less the partisanship that often weakens the cooperation we need to triumph.
Please watch the attached NDC galamsey video, and I am sure you conclude with me that the NDC needs to get serious with the fight against galamsey. Their double standard on a matter as serious as galamsey is sickening.
Meanwhile, watch the latest episode of People and Places on GhanaWeb TV below:
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:
SARA
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