Gabby Asare Otechere-Darko
Private legal practitioner and a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otechere-Darko has strongly denied interfering in the work of the Interministeral Committee (IMCIM) on Illegal Mining by the government to fight illegal mining otherwise known as “Galamsey”.
Gabby was accused in a 31-page report submitted by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, which has been leaked to the media.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng mentioned in the report how Gabby had called him concerning a particular company that the taskforce was ready to sack from a forest.
However, Gabby speaking in an interview on Citi FM, April 20, 2023 denied that he had interfered in the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
According to him, he was acting as a legal counsel for the said company Imperial Heritage Company, which albeit being properly registered had its machines seized by officers of the taskforce.
“Heritage had a mining exploration permit issued in July 2019, a forest entry permit issued in November 2018, and also an EPA permit yet the soldiers went and seized the equipment of Heritage and so I called the soldiers and was told that it was the Minister who had sanctioned them and so I asked the Minister what the issue was with the equipment seizures and the Minister said they were prospecting and not exploring and that was the conversation that we had.
“My intervention was to understand why a legitimate company with all the requisite permits was stopped from doing their work and that is what lawyers do.”
Gabby in turn averred that the former minister had twisted the job of a lawyer to mean interference.
“The Minister deliberately twisted the inquiry by a lawyer of a client’s issue to be an interference and the thing is, it was even a phone call that lasted not more than four minutes and he ended by saying Heritage shouldn’t have been issued with the license.”
Frimpong-Boateng in his 37-page report wrote that Gabby pestered him when the IMCIM was about dislodging the Imperial Heritage.
“We were ready to dislodge Imperial Heritage from Kobro Forest when Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko called to inform me that he was the lawyer for Heritage Imperial Limited, a company that was destroying the Kobro and Apaprama Forest Reserves and in the process had also polluted and diverted the course of the River Offin, as can be seen in the satellite images below. I informed the President about the behaviour of Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko and he promised to deal with it.”
By Vincent Kubi