Former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng has listed a number of high-profile political figures engaged in illegal mining and those who thwarted an official role assigned to him by President Akufo-Addo to root out the galamsey menace.
He revealed that most ministers who were supposed to serve on the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) rather abandoned the Committee.
Professor Boateng’s claims are contained in his 36-page report addressed to the president, the Chief of Staff, and the police.
“Throughout our struggle with illegalities in the small-scale mining sector, what baffled me was the total disregard of the President’s commitment to protecting the environment.
“I can state without any equivocation that many party officials from the national to the unit committee level had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers, or relatives engaged in illegal mining. Most of them engaged Chinese working for them.
“I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainably as they were instructed to do.
“There are appointees in the Jubilee House that are doing or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace,” excerpts of the document said.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL DOCUMENT