Former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has released a report which has implicated some top NPP officials in illegal mining popularly known as Galamsey; Gabby Otchere-Darko, whose name was cited has emphatically debunked such claims
The signed 37-page report reveals that several NPP officials and some bigwgs at the Jubilee House are engaged the services of Chinese nationals to engage in Galamsey which have destroyed farmlands and waterbodies.
The former Minister for Environment mentioned that the report wast put together on March 19, 2021 on the behest of the Chief of Staff.
According to the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation these top NPP officials impeded the work of the task force hence insignificant progress on the fight against Galamsey in the country
Throughout our struggle with illegalities in the small-scale mining sector, what baffled me was the total disregard of the President’s commitment to protect the environment. I can state without any equivocation that many party officials from the National to the unit committee level had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers or relatives engaged in illegal mining.
Most of them engaged Chinese working for them. I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainably as they were instructed to do. There are appointees in the Jubilee House that are doing or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace.
An NPP MP in the Ashanti region who was also implicated in the report for using his position as a member of the Minerals Commission to acquire several dozens of large-scale concessions in his district for community mining purposes emphatically denied the claims.
In an interview on Citi News, the MP mentioned that the report must be disregarded and what he’s been accused for isn’t factual as he hasn’t earned a penny neither own anything as claimed by Prof. Frimpong Boateng.
This infuriated the party in the constituency so during the 2020 primaries to select a candidate the electorate voted against the sitting MP, who was more resourced than other candidates. Although there were allegations that he “camped” delegates and attempted to bribe them, he lost to a lesser-known individual who did not have any financial muscle. Portions of the report read.
NPP officials Orchestrated the Sacking of Prof. Frimpong Boateng
The Former Minister for Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng grumbled about his dismissal in 2020 amidst some scandal with respect to Galamsey excavators.
He blamed it on NPP officials who according to him apparently planned it to frustrate his fight against Galamsey. He further stated that, now that he is out, things have fallen apart as illegal miners are back in the forest mining and destroying water bodies and farmlands.
There was an orchestration within the party and the government to get me out and when I left galamsey activities increased. Now things are coming up, and we know those who are doing galamsey even within the party and even people at the Jubilee House.
The true story is that at the start of Operation Vanguard, the soldiers were supposed to arrest the excavators, but they will go into the forest and removed the control boards of the excavators and come back to report but when they went away, the owners will come with different control boards and move the excavators away.
So the soldiers reported that they had immobilized over 700 excavators, and so we appointed someone to go round and check but when we went round, we found only about 150 to 200 excavators, the rest had been moved away.” Prof. Frimpong Boateng mentioned.
Gabby Otchere-Darko Debunks Claims Implicating Him in Illegal Mining (Galamsey)
Co-founder of the Danquah Institute and member of the New Patriotic Party, Gabby Otchere-Darko had his name mentioned by the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Frimpong Boateng for hindering the fight against Galamsey at the time.
According to Prof. Frimpong Boateng, he recounted the lawyer calling to ‘instruct’ him to allow his client entry into the forest to work, but refused and reported that to the President who assured to deal with the situation.
Gabby Otchere-Darko in response to Prof. Frimpong Boateng’s claims said the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation wasn’t professional and did not follow due process to address the issue.
He said he only called the then Minister to inquire why his client who possessed all the required documents to legally work in the forest was prevented by the Minister’s task force. He added that, the Minister should have handled the issue on legal grounds than to report to the President who is also a lawyer.
