The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has directed the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to commence investigations into claims made by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng about the alleged involvement of some top Jubilee House Officials in illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’.
Multiple sources at the police headquarters have confided in The Chronicle that the directive was issued to the GPS last week and that the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters has commenced investigations into the allegation.
The Chronicle cannot, however, confirm or otherwise if any of the staff of the Jubilee House has already been contacted by the police, as part of the investigation that has been ordered by the president.
It would be recalled that on March 13, 2023 Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in an interview with the state broadcaster, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, said that there are many top government officials engaged in illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ and revealed that the rot goes as high as the seat of the government, Jubilee House.
The respected Professor alleged that it was some of these individuals who supervised his ousting from the Ministry, in order to continue perpetuating the canker.
He pointed out that the allegations of some 500 missing Excavators from illegal miners in 2020 which incriminated him and made him unpopular by the time he left office, were fabrications of persons in the government to get him out of the way.
“Let me tell you that I did not take one Excavator for anything, they know the truth. Now things are coming up, we know those who are behind it and the party people who are there, people in government, including Jubilee House, who are doing galamsey and so on, even now,” Prof Frimpong-Boateng said.
He further stated that it was his effort that prevented the Forest Reserves from further dissipation by these government officials, for which reason there are reports of breaches, now that he is no more in office.
“There was an orchestrated scheme, even within the party and government to get me out. Why is it that when I left, now everyone is in the forest?” he asked.
The revelation by the respected Professor on March 13, came as a shock to many Ghanaians due to the fact that the President on March 8, delivered a State of the Nation Address (SONA), where he assured Ghanaians of his government’s continued fight against galamsey, with the support of the security agencies in the short term.
Even before he uttered the words in Parliament on that fateful Wednesday, the President, acting through the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, instructed the Operation Halt II team to resume its activities of guarding the country’s water bodies and engage in other activities that will ward off illegal miners.
That would not even be the first time the team is embarking on such an exercise, which is being funded with tax payer’s money. The team, which has been in existence for some time now conducts such activities from time to time.
Aside the Operation Halt team, one other illegal mining taskforce, such as Galasmstop, which was inaugurated by Professor Frimpong Boateng himself in 2019, to protect the Birim River and its tributaries in the Eastern Region from pollution caused by galamsey activities.
Considering all these investment in the fight against galamsey, it was surprising that top government officials at Jubilee house themselves are involved in galamsey, as alleged by the former Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation minister.
