Community mining sites established by Prof Frimpong-Boateng were illegal – Minerals Commission boss

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Martin Kwaku Ayisi, has said that the former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, established community mining sites throughout the country without proper authorisation.

According to him, the former science and technology minister abused his power as the head of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) by establishing the community mining sites, 3news.com reports.

Kwaku Ayisi added that he has now been left with the challenge of closing down these illegal community mining sites.

“They were going around launching Community Mining sites, a legacy I am struggling to deal with right now. There is no way we will recognize a place as community mining lawfully permitted doing responsible mining where we will give gold catcher unless the place has been duly inspected by the Minerals Commission, found the place suitable and then we will do all the arrangements and get the minister to launch and then we issue licenses.

“For example, this whole community mining program, which was officially launched by the President, we were informed of it a midnight before. It was launched on the concession of a large-scale mining firm, Golden Star,” he said.

“All the Community Mining that were launched by him (Prof Frimpong-Boateng) never had any license or authorization. That’s what the Minerals Commission is saying,” the Minerals Commission boss reiterated.

Meanwhile, the former chairman of IMCIM and former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, was arrested on May 16, 2023, in relation to some corruption allegations in the work of the IMCIM.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng was granted a GH¢2 million bail by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

This follows an invitation from the OSP to the former minister to appear before it in an ongoing investigation into some corruption-related matters relating to a report he spearheaded on activities of small-scale mining in the country.

According to a report by 3news.com, the renowned heart surgeon has since been granted bail.

On May 4, 2023, GhanaWeb reported that the former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, had been invited by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, to assist with investigations following allegations raised in a report submitted to the presidency.

Prof. Frimpong had made suggestions that some elements in the New Patriotic Party and the government had made attempts to frustrate his work and sabotage him during his work as chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

In the statement dated, May 4, 2023, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng noted that he had duly received the invitation and had indicated his willingness to cooperate.

He noted that he was described as ‘a person necessary for the investigation’.

The investigations will help bring clarity to issues of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

“I have formally communicated my willingness to attend the invitation and to support the OSP in its work,” he said.

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