Former Environment Minister Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has urged the government to confront powerful individuals backing illegal small-scale mining, warning that the cost of inaction is now measured in human lives.
Speaking on TV3’s The Key Points programme on Saturday, August 9, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said the military helicopter crash that killed eight people, including two cabinet ministers, should be a catalyst for decisive action.
He stressed that it was time for authorities to go after those behind the illegal mining menace, pointing out that many of them are influential figures with financial resources who use intermediaries to secure concessions.
“It is time for us to go after those behind the illegal mining menace. We all know they are powerful people who have money and get people to secure their concessions,” he said
The helicopter crash on Wednesday, August 6, claimed the lives of Defence Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Murtala Mohammed, former Ashanti Regional Minister Samuel Sarpong, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Muniru Mohammed, and Samuel Aboagye, a former Member of Parliament and Vice-Chairman of the NDC. Also on board were Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Mane-Twum Ampadu and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
According to the Ghana Armed Forces, the aircraft had taken off from Accra for Obuasi, a major mining hub, but went off radar before crashing. Eyewitnesses reported that it was engulfed in flames and burned beyond recognition.
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