Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng
Former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has been invited by the Special Prosecutor (SP), Kissi Agyebeng, to assist in investigation into the activities of the now dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
He is the first to be invited by the SP since the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining report was released.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, who confirmed receiving an invitation letter from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), expressed his willingness to assist with the investigations.
In a short statement on Wednesday, May 4, 2023, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said, “Earlier today, I received a letter from the Office of the Special Prosecutor inviting me to assist the Office as a person necessary for the investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.
“I have formally communicated my willingness to attend the invitation and support the OSP in the work,” he said.
The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng earlier assured the public and civil society that all persons found culpable in the report on the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) will have “necessary action” taken against them.
The OSP on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, broke silence on the report authored on Friday, March 19, 2021 by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, who chaired the Committee.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng cited government officials for complicity in the mass degradation of the country’s forest cover through illegal mining.
Among those he cited in his report was the deceased Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Osei Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, who was said to have owned a Chinese gang mining in forest reserves.
Following the report, calls were made for the Special Prosecutor to initiate investigations, especially on the persons including current government officials cited in the report.
“The OSP welcomes the calls for action and investigations and it assures the public and civil society that its investigation is ongoing and far-reaching, and it also covers the matters raised in the report published by the head of the dissolved IMCIM,” Mr. Agyebeng stated in a press release to give an update on illegal mining cases his office is pursuing.
“The OSP will take necessary action against all persons deemed culpable of corruption and corruption-related offences in the mining sector.”
A Daily Guide Report