Issues in Frimpong-Boateng’s report already under probe — OSP

THE Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) says it is already investigating issues on a number of corruption offences in the mining sector in the country. 

Those issues include allegations raised in a report authored by former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

In a press statement signed and dated May 2, 2023, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, acknowledged the recent calls from public and civil society following the publication of the report by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, who was the head of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

“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,” the statement said.

In a publication dated October 10, 2022, the OSP announced that it had commenced investigations into suspected corruption-related activities including the activities and expenditure of the dissolved IMCIM.

 “The OSP will take necessary action against all persons deemed culpable of corruption and corruption-related offences in the mining sector,” the statement said. 

Frimpong-Boateng’s Report

In a report presented to the Presidency in March 2021, which is currently in the public domain, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng mentioned dozens of people in the Akufo-Addo-led administration, as well as party bigwigs, as being complicit in illegal mining and frustrating the efforts of the President to combat the menace.

However, the Presidency and some of the individuals mentioned in the report have dismissed the report.

The government appointees and NPP bigwigs mentioned in the report who have refuted the allegations include the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; the Director of Operations at the Presidency, Lord Commey, and a leading member of the NPP, Gabby Otchere-Darko.

Presidency’s reaction

A statement from the Presidency dismissed the report in its form and substance, and further described it as “unfounded and hearsay.”

 In terms of the form, the statement said the report was not an official document, but rather a catalogue of personal grievances by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in response to some issues during his tenure as the Chairperson of the IMCIM.

The report, the statement said, was delivered by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng to the Chief of Staff on March 21, 2021, when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo decided not to renew his mandate as a minister in his second term.

“The document did not have a transmittal or cover letter nor, indeed, an addressee, such as to suggest that it was submitted to the Chief of Staff for action.

“It is noteworthy that the IMCIM was a creation of Cabinet, and any formal report on its activities would, normally, be submitted to Cabinet through the Cabinet Secretary, or directly to the President of the Republic as Chairperson of Cabinet.

To date, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng has done neither,” the statement added.

With regard to its substance, the statement noted that although the allegations made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng were serious, he failed to provide any shred of evidence to support them.

“It is important also to point out that while Prof. Frimpong-Boateng makes serious allegations against some government appointees, as having been involved in, supporting or interfering with the fight against illegal mining, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated.

Other responses

Mr Oppong Nkrumah refuted the allegations against him, stating that Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s claim that he set out to discredit him and destroy his image was completely false.

The report, written by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, claims that Mr Oppong Nkrumah organised a secret meeting of journalists from both the NPP and NDC on February 8, 2020, at Dodowa to discuss a strategy to bring him down, which led to subsequent negative media reports about him.

The Information Minister expressed disappointment at the false claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, whom, he said, he had previously held in high esteem, but asked that he left him out of his personal fights.

With regard to Mr Otchere-Darko, the report claims he called to influence the former minister on behalf of a client, which was a mining company, after Prof. Frimpong-Boateng directed the company to cease mining in a forest.

Mr Otchere-Darko refuted the allegations and questioned why the former minister did not take appropriate action, if he believed that Otchere-Darko had acted improperly.

Consequently, he has since filed a defamatory suit against Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, demanding GH¢10 million in damages.