The convener for Asogli state house Nana Otu Darko has hit hard on the presidency for debunking the recent report of illegal mining “galamsey” from former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Chairperson of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
Speaking on Plan B FM late afternoon show EBAANOSEN, in reaction to the statement released by the presidency, Nana Otu Darko said that
“Anybody who will defend or speak against any aspect of Professor Frimpong Boateng’s report citing some officials at the presidency involved in the galamsey activities on radio/Tv is a fool because it is unreasonable for any wise to sit aloof and watch our water bodies eradicated” he indicated.
He also questioned the integrity and the intelligence of our leaders in the fight against galamsey.
“If present Akufo Addo is honest and willing to fight Galamsey why didn’t he set a committee to investigate Prof. Frimpong’s report on Galamsey after he presented it”? he quizzed
He stressed that
“if our illiterate forefathers got the sense to reserve and preserve the natural resources to benefit generations, why can’t we the educated do much better than them”, it’s about time we put books aside and use our sense to deal with with with with such matters, we are allowing Chinese and other nationals to destroy our water bodies and we will import water from them, are we stupid?” he fumed
On the other hand Office of the President has debunked claims made by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Chairperson of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, in a report on illegal small scale mining also known as galamsey in Ghana.
Statements in the report according to the Presidency are a catalog of grievances of Prof. Frimpong-Boateng and could best be described as hearsay.
The Presidency also said the document was not presented as an official report before Cabinet as it was submitted informally.
“At the outset, it must be pointed out that the document being discussed was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President. On the contrary, it can only be rightly referred to as a catalog of personal grievances and claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM.”
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng
“The document was handed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President on March 19th, 2021, in an informal meeting, where Prof. Frimpong-Boateng complained about public attacks and criticisms made about his tenure as Chairperson of the IMCIM”.
The report authored in March 2021 and handed over to the Chief of Staff mentioned dozens of persons in the Akufo-Addo government accused of either being engaged in galamsey or interfering in the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.
Almost all the persons mentioned in the report have rejected any wrongdoing.
The Presidency in a rejoinder argued that despite the serious allegations Prof. Frimpong-Boateng made against some government appointees, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated.
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