The Director of Local Government Services at the Office of the President, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has accused the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng of acting out of bitterness.
According to the presidential staffer, the chairman of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Small Scale Mining is seeking to settle scores through his recently leaked galamsey report which he described as hollow.
“Why are we not calling Prof. Frimpong-Boateng and asking him to substantiate these allegations? Just because you know that a certain Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe, a certain Protozoa, a certain Gabby Otchere-Darko is facilitating or engaging in galamsey, it is easy for you to for you to go and pinpoint because you were the chairman.
“Why did you not add in your report that they were engaged in the galamsey in the so, so and so forest area? Otherwise how are we building the nation? So, when you go and meet someone at a place and they claim they are working for Miracles, that's it whether it is true or not,” he said on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo morning show
“I think that Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s write up is bogus, it has no substance. Galamsey is a massive canker and we shouldn’t allow certain things to cover it up. We need to fight it; we need to fight the politicians, we need to fight the religious leaders, we need to fight the private people who are involved,” he added.
Background:
Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng named Members of Parliament and top government officials who are allegedly involved in galamsey in Ghana.
Portions of a report on galamsey 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 addressed to the Chief of Staff 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 document 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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