Wounded Frimpong-Boateng Strikes Again, But Fails To Mention Son’s Involvement In Galamsey
The ex-Minister of Environment Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, who is clapping back, after his 37-page report accusing top officials of government of illegal mining and thwarting his fight against the menace leaked, has been found to be complicit in the canker.
Details have emerged that, while the good old heart surgeon was engaged in a back-and-forth banter with individuals and companies he accused in his report, he remained silent on allegation that his son was involved in small-scale mining, commonly known as galamsey.
While many have commended the former head of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) for coming out boldly to respond to the powers that be, others are worried that the former minister has failed to address the issue of his son, aside from his earlier denial while he was in office.
The former minister’s son, Jojo Frimpong-Boateng, is said to be involved in mining with his company, Symphony Limited, since the erstwhile John Mahama administration and has various concessions.
The Anchor has intercepted a letter purported to be coming from the said son of the former minister, named K. Frimpong-Boateng, who happens to be the director of Symphony Limited, addressed to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission.
Dated November 20, 2014, the company, which had five mining concessions at Gyapekrom, Babianiha, Adomesu, Nwenem and Asiri, all towns in the Bono Region, had written to the Minerals Commission to take two of the five concession lots, due to the challenges it was facing in the area.
A portion of the letter had said that “Symphony is facing a few challenges, the most prominent being the withdrawal of two partners from our operations due to the prevailing global economic difficulties.” “Because of this and other reasons, we are compelled to shed off three of our concessions. We intend to maintain only the Babianeha and the Adomesu concessions.”
Prior to The Anchor laying hands on this letter, a former Secretary of the IMCIM, Charles Bissiw, hinted that Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s associates were also engaging in galamsey, insisting that “Prof Boateng knows the truth.”
He listed a number of them, including Francis Owusu Achiaw, Mike Gizo and Kwabena Boakye.
Mr. Bissiw, in an interview on Accra-based Joy FM, told listeners that he was disappointed in Prof. Boateng over the matter.
“I am also disappointed in Prof. Frimpong Boateng to the extent that he has people around him who were doing the same thing [illegal mining],” he said.
He said Prof. Boateng has not been consistent and truthful to Ghanaians, explaining that the former minister was not factual in his reportage on the missing excavators.
Many believe it will serve the nation better if an investigation is launched into Symphony Limited concessions to ascertain whether or not the company indeed engaged in small scale mining and not illegal mining as was said in the past.
But these accusations by the professor have sparked various conversations, days after the report was leaked by US-based online presenter Kevin Taylor. For instance, Mr.Gabby Otchere-Darko, who the professor accused of calling him to speak on behalf of his client, in a quick rebuttal with CitiNews last week, said he did nothing wrong when he placed a call to the then minister.
According to Gabby, who is also a lawyer, he called the surgeon-turned-politician to ask for information concerning his client, a company that had been permitted by the Minerals Commission to prospect for gold.
He said, to the best of his knowledge, he did nothing untoward except that the former minister twisted his side of the mediation to achieve a certain purpose in the public space.
“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,” he said.
“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,” Mr.Otchere-Darko added.
But reacting to Mr. Otchere-Darko, in his latest response, the professor did not hold back hitting hard at the powerful man at the Presidency, who has no known portfolio.
“After listening to the words of Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, I became sad for Ghana,” the cardio surgeon wrote.
“I wondered what happened to us to get to this state, where a person who is supposed to be a lawyer to a mining company exhibited such industrial-scale ignorance about mining laws and regulations.”
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng reminded the lawyer and media personality of how his client had a strong history of acting with impunity.
The Information minister, whose name had also featured prominently in the report, had last week also sought to clear his name through a statement denying totally what was levelled against him by his senior former minister.
Mr.Oppong Nkrumah was accused of assembling some selected media houses, both from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC), to ostensibly wage a campaign in the media to bring him down.
The former morning show host, in a statement, said the allegation contained in the report against him by (Prof.Frimpong-Boateng) was made in the media space and is also misconstruing some of the actions he Oppong Nkrumah took.
“To perform my duty of briefing cabinet on media reports cannot be a sinister act against another Minister. If the President needs to be briefed in cabinet on a matter by a minister. It is done in the open without malice, fear, or favour. It would otherwise have been sinister to do so surreptitiously.
“Over the years, I have nothing but great admiration for Prof. Boateng public spirted works and as an inspirational citizen. I feel gravely offended over the false claims he has made and hurtful conclusions he has sought to exact about me precisely because of the great esteem in which I have held him.
“I trust that in the coming months and years, he will reflect deeply upon his own actions and comments which have led to his challenges. He should kindly leave me out of his personal fights. I am utterly disappointed but I forgive him,” he said.
Unfortunately for the Information Minister, the heart surgeon appears unimpressed with his reaction to the accusation and rather sought to advise him on his young political life, in his latest rebuttal.
“I have good advice for you, though. When I was part of the government, we were colleagues and I related to you as such. Now I will advise you as my son, just as I do my children. After all you
are same age as my 4th-born son. When I returned to Ghana from Germany to start the cardiothoracic project you were just 6 years old as my 4th child. I will not lie to you or insult you or be harsh on you.”
“My advice is, always remember that political power is both short-lived and effervescent. In about 2years’ time you may no longer be in government, and you may experience the real world as former high-profile political power holders do. I will urge you to do your work diligently and avoid thetactics Mr. Paul Adom-Otchere boastfully and unashamedly told the world on ‘Good Evening Ghana’ that you employ to deal with your real and perceived enemies.”
Source: Anchorghana.com
