Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, was arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and is being investigated for suspected corruption.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor requested his presence weeks ago for interrogation in connection with a corruption investigation, specifically regarding his report on the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
He was taken into custody because of allegations that he was involved in the disappearance of 500 excavators and in the illegal mining activities of Symphony Limited, a firm owned by his son. After his supposed arrest, the court quickly released him on bail of GH2 million.
In his study, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng accused high-ranking members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), including ministers in the ruling party, of the practise of illegal mining, also known as galamsey.
According to his report on IMCIM’s campaign against illegal mining in Ghana, the late Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, well known as Sir John, refused to sign up for GalamStop, an app distributed to regulatory bodies in the forest business.
Professor Boateng’s research suggested that Sir John was granting logging permits in protected areas of the forest. According to Prof. Boateng, the government made up the tale of 500 missing excavators from Galamseyers in 2020 in order to depose him.
An investigation into what happened to the excavators that were taken from illegal miners in February 2020 has begun.
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