President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed the police to investigate allegations of the involvement of some government officials in illegal mining activities.
This follows a recent interview granted by Professor KwabenaFrimpong-Boateng, former Minister of Environment Science Technology and Innovations with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), State broadcaster, over the allegations.
Sources at the police headquarters confirmed thePresident‘sdirective to the police,to Ghanaian Times, in Accra, yesterday.
Information gathered, revealed that the President gave the directive last week, and the Special Investigations Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service has commenced investigations into the matter.
It would be recalled that Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in a recent interview with the state broadcaster alleged that he was ousted from his position to pave the way for the NPP bigwigs to continue their galamsey activities.
He was later relieved of his post over some missing excavators.
Prof. Frimpong-Boatengin the interview disclosed, “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.”
He intimated that the allegationconcerning some 500 missing excavators seized from persons engaged in illegal miningin 2020, were untrue, and made-up stories by some persons in government to tarnish his reputation in order to chase him out of office.
The former minister had disclosed that there were people in government that wanted him out because of his stance on illegal mining in the country.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng disclosed that the very beginning and actions of military personnel deployed to effect the arrest of illegal miners triggered the entire falsehood about him being responsible for the missing excavators.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament had called for investigations into the allegations by the former minister.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI
