The Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has questioned the motive behind the report on illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) activities in Ghana issued by the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
According to him, Prof Frimpong-Boateng was the chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) and he had all the opportunities to present his report to the Cabinet of Ghana but he failed to.
Speaking in an interview with Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, monitored by GhanaWeb, on Thursday, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu added that the fact that the former science and technology minister only decided to file the galamsey report after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo did not retain him in his position raises many unanswered questions.
“There are some questions one may ask in terms of the credibility (of the report) … I’m a member of cabinet and we set up this committee and Prof was its head. The committee was working and occasionally cabinet received reports for it.
“But how come this particular report was not presented to cabinet and it is only surfacing after Prof was not retained as a minister?
“I don’t want to be prejudicial… but his mandate elapsed in 2020, why was it (the report) released after the president has nominated ministers for his second term and Prof was not part,” he questioned in the Twi dialect.
The majority leader, who is also the member of parliament for Suame, however, urged the requisite state agencies to look into the allegation made by the former science and technology minister in order to get to the bottom of the matter.
Background:
Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng named members of parliaments and top government officials who are allegedly involved in illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in Ghana.
Portions of a report on illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in Ghana by Prof Frimpong Boateng, indicated that these MPs and government officials were either directly involved in galamsey or were using their power to protect relations who were involved in the menace.
The 36-page report, which Prof Frimpong addressed to the Chief of Staff and the Ghana Police Service, according to myjoyonline.com, implicated the former MP for Manso Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm; director of operations at the presidency, Lord Commey; executive assistant and head of social media at the presidency, Charles Nii Teiko; and Frank Asiedu Bekoe, director of political affairs at the Office of the Chief of Staff.
Prof Frimpong Boateng also accused the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, of hatching a plot to bring him down over his (Frimpong Boateng’s) fight against the menace.
Even though some officials of the government who were implicated have refuted the allegation in the report, the Office of the President has indicated that it (the report) was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President.
It described the 37-page report as a catalogue of personal grievances by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as chairperson of the IMCIM.
It added that whilst Prof Frimpong-Boateng makes serious allegations against some government appointees, as having been involved in, supporting or interfering with the fight against illegal mining, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated.
The Office of the President described the allegations contained in the document as hearsay.
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