Mr Andrew Edwin Arthur, the President of the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), says allegation by Prof Frimpong Boateng that the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, met journalists at Dodowa to plot how to bring him (Prof) down cannot be true.
The respected Professor of Medicine, who was also the Chairman of the now-dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (ICIM) had alleged in a leaked 37 paged report that the Information Minister had orchestrated a clandestine meeting to plot against his (Prof) fight over illegal mining.
But speaking in an interview with Adom FM last week Thursday, April 28, 2023 Mr Edwin Arthur clarified that the event in question was a training program organised by PRINPAG, in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on financial reporting and had no connection to any malicious intent towards Prof. Frimpong-Boateng.
“As President of PRINPAG, I threw an invitation to the Minister for Information to be the Guest of Honour for our training program at the Forest Hotel, in Dodowa. So we wrote a proposal to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to assist us train our members in financial reporting.
“On top of it, I personally wrote the letter inviting the Honorable Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to deliver a keynote address as part of our event, together with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) President at the time, Mr. Affail Monney.
“So, I was taken aback by Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s allegation that it was a gathering to scheme against the fight against illegal mining. That is clearly untrue,” he said.
Mr. Arthur also expressed disappointment in claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, pointing out that neither Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s name nor the issue of illegal mining was mentioned during the event.
The report also made several allegations against some government and political party officials who allegedly made various attempts to thwart the former Minister’s efforts in clamping down on illegal mining in the country.
However, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah has since denied the allegation as false and a fabricated account to court public disaffection against his person.
He said it goes against his principles and upbringing to hurt others, questioning the feasibility and prudence of a scenario of getting both NPP and NDC affiliated journalists to work against a colleague Minister.
