Galamsey report: Capt. Koda didn’t authorise release of my excavators – Asene Akroso MP

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asene Akroso Manso, Hon. George Kwame Aboagye, has said that the Head of the Presidential security detail, Captain Koda, did not sanction the release of his excavators that were impounded by the Task Force of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, in his report to the presidency on the work of the IMCIM on illegal mining and the way forward, alleged that when the Task Force of the IMCIM impounded two excavators at a site near Anyinam and deposited them at the Anyinam Police Station, "frantic telephone calls were received from Capt. Koda of the Presidential security detail, who asked for the excavators to be released."

He further alleged that Capt. Koda informed the Task Force that the concession owner, Hon. George Kwame Aboagye, the MP for Asene Akroso Manso, was his brother.

However, Hon. Aboagye, in his note dated Thursday, April 27, 2023, responding to Prof. Frimpong-Boateng's accusations, noted that Capt. Koda has no hand in the release of the said excavators.

"Edmund Kwadwo Koda (Captain Koda), at no point, intervened, influenced any persons, or facilitated the release of the two (2) excavators that had been placed in police custody temporarily," part of Hon. Aboagye's note revealed.

He asserted that the two excavators that the IMCIM confiscated were the properties of a legal mining company operating at a mining site in Anyinam.

Although he was not specific about the name of the company those excavators belonged to, he stated that he had been associated with Kocbad Ventures Limited and Kesuadom Enterprise Limited, all of which have obtained the relevant licenses and permits to partake in the mining industry in Ghana.

Hon. Aboagye explained that it was during the operations of one of the mining companies at Anyinam, which was very far from the Birim River, that officers of the Special Task of the IMCIM who was on a routine inspection of mining sites visited them and confiscated two out of the three excavators on site and advised them to ensure compliance before releasing them.

This was after the IMCIM Task Force discovered that the site had two open dams instead of one.

"These dams were being used as a reservoir for the very reason that there was extremely limited access to water resources, nor was there any natural water body in proximity to the site. In order to ensure compliance with this equipment, the officers of the IMCIM took temporal possession of two (2) out of three (3) of the excavators on the site to ensure that the third excavator covered the dam and reclaimed the land. As faithfully reported by the media accompanying the IMCIM, the dam was recovered within a week of the site inspection, and the excavators were accordingly released upon compliance," Hon. Aboagye's note in part stated.

It added, "This is the straightforward and unqualified record of events that have been unfortunately but unsurprisingly distorted to suit the various parties in the crossfire initiated by Professor Frimpong Boateng's report."

To Hon. Aboagye, the leader of the IMCIM and his Deputy have categorically denied receiving any call or order from any person, particularly Captain Koda, for the release of the excavators and are prepared to answer queries relating to the same.

Also, in Hon. Aboagye's note, a copy of which is in possession of this portal, he categorically denied participating in or being associated with illegal mining activities (galamsey) in the country.

"I have never engaged in illegal mining at any point in time. As part of my business, I have participated in legal and regulated artisanal and small-scale mining. I have been associated with Kocbad Ventures Limited and Kesuadom Enterprise Limited, which are licensed companies that have conducted their mining activities in accordance with the laws of the land, mining regulations, and best practices for the international mining industry," he noted.