MP petitions CHRAJ to investigate govt officials named in Frimpong-Boateng's galamsey report

The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has requested that the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) investigate allegations of fundamental human rights violations, corrupt practices, conflicts of interest, and abuse of public office made against certain public officials and others mentioned in a Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) report.

The petition, submitted by the MP's legal team, also calls for CHRAJ to probe claims of corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office made by Charles Bissue, former secretary of the IMCIM, against Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former chairman of the IMCIM, in connection with the disappearance of 500 excavators in February 2020.

Dated April 25, 2023, the petition states that the IMCIM report, authored by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng and dated March 19, 2021, identifies various public officials and individuals for corrupt practices, conflicts of interest, and abuse of public office. It cites an example from the report where the task force seized seven excavators from a concession in Bepotenten after complaints of harassment by Chinese miners. 

The report alleges that the damage to the forest reserve was extensive, with large economic trees felled and dumped into muddy water bodies to rot, and nearby cocoa farms destroyed. The report also alleges that Mr. Charles Owusu, the Operations Manager of the Forestry Commission, claimed ownership of the concession and the excavators, despite mining in a forest reserve without any permit, and destroying forests, farm lands, water bodies, and biodiversity.

The petition seeks a thorough investigation into these allegations and any other related matters by CHRAJ.