OSP must investigate activities of Operation Vanguard too – ASEPA

Civil society organisation, Alliance for Social Equity and Public Administration (ASEPA) has charged the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the activities of Operation Vanguard and the report about illegal mining (galamsey) authored by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

An explosive report compiled by former Environment Minister, Prof Frimpong Boateng who was the chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) set up by President Akufo-Addo leaked into the public domain recently.

In the 2021 report to the President, Prof Boateng named senior government officials accused of active involvement in illegal mining locally called ‘galamsey’.

The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has announced that he is investigating the report that has already been given to Ghana’s Chief of Staff, Madam Frema Osei Opare.

As Ghanaians begin to show interest in the Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s report, the Executive Director for ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, wants the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to probe the matter with all seriousness.

Speaking on Power Midday news on Power 97.9 FM, Thompson alleged that Operation Vanguard– the joint military and police force tasked to fight illegal mining– was compromised at the time of its operations in the country.

He told Piesie Okrah on Power FM that there were issues raised against the taskforce when it was tasked to combat illegal mining.

“We want the Special Prosecutor not to investigate Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s report but all issues linked to galamsey, including Operation Vanguard,” Thompson said.

He believes if the works of the IMCIM and Operation Vanguard are investigated, the lapses in the fight against galamsey will be exposed.