Police are looking into Frimpong-Boateng’s allegations about missing excavators.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed the Ghana Police Service to commence investigations into allegations made by a former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, concerning the engagement of some New Patriotic Party (NPP) bigwigs in illegal mining activities, popularly known as “galamsey”.

The President issued the directive last week, and Daily Graphic checks show that the Criminal Investigations Department’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has begun an investigation into the matter.

Allegations

In a recent interview with the state broadcaster, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Prof. Frimpong-Boateng claimed that some ruling government officials were involved in galamsey.

He claimed that his own party and other government officials involved in galamsey used the alleged missing excavators story against him as a weapon to remove him from office.

He claimed that his dismissal allowed some bigwigs in the ruling NPP to continue their galamsey activities.

The excavators were seized from galamsey operators all over the country.

In the interview, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng claimed that allegations about the loss of 500 excavators seized from illegal miners in 2020 were false, and that the stories were made up by government officials to smear his reputation and force him out of office.

“There was an orchestration within the party and the government to get me out, and when I left, galamsey activities increased,” Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said during an interview on GBC. Things are heating up now, and we know who’s up to no good, even within the party and even at the Jubilee House.”

He admitted that the actions of military personnel deployed to apprehend illegal miners were the catalyst for the entire falsehood about him being responsible for the missing excavators at the time.

“The true story is that at the start of Operation Vanguard, the soldiers were supposed to arrest the excavators, but instead they went into the forest, removed the excavators’ control boards, and returned to report. But when they left, the owners replaced the control boards and moved the excavators,” he explained.

Following his interview, a number of individuals and groups, including the Minority in Parliament, have demanded that the allegations be investigated.

Police investigations have begun.

According to a senior police source, the CID launched an investigation into the issues raised by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng last week.

According to the source, the police had sent a letter to Prof Frimpong-Boateng requesting that he assist them in their investigations.

I’m willing to help.

However, when contacted yesterday, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng stated that he had not received any correspondence from the police regarding the matter.

Nonetheless, he stated that if approached, he would fully cooperate with any investigation into the matter.

Demands for an investigation

Last Friday, the Minority in Parliament demanded an investigation into Prof. Frimpong-galamsey Boateng’s claims.

Dr Rashid Pelpuo, Ranking Member of the Lands and Forestry Committee, told journalists that the allegations were serious and should be investigated.

“We have reports of key government officials being key galamsey operators involved in destroying lands in forest reserves. We would like to request that the government investigate the allegations made by the former Environment Minister. “We also expect the government to stop assisting illegal immigrants in galamsey because most of the lands destroyed have yet to be restored,” he said.

Prior to the Minority’s call, Dr Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South, had called for an investigation into the allegations.

In a statement, the MP requested that the matter be investigated by state security agencies such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), and the CID.

He added that such allegations could not be ignored and that police investigations must be conducted to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“Ghanaians expect the requisite state agencies/institutions (OSP, BNI, CID) to show loyalty to Ghana by initiating investigations into the allegations made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng. These allegations cannot and must not be ignored, given his stature and previous position in this NPP government.” he said

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