Politics

It’s Now Clear; Governments Galamsey Fight A Huge Fraud – Ato Forson

Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson believes the report released by the former Chairman of the defunct Inter-ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining, Prof. Frimpong Boateng on the illicit activity makes mockery of government’s fight against illegal mining otherwise known as galamsey.

In a Facebook post, Dr. Forson said the revelation by Prof. Frimpong is strongly indicative that the galamsey fight was nothing but a charade. He plainly describes it as fraudulent.

“Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s report to the President on failed work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, which was set up by President Akufo-Addo to fight the illegal mining menace, confirms that the whole fight was a fraudulent one”, he wrote.

The report authored by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng also a former Minister of Environment in March 2021 and handed over to the Chief of Staff cited a number of top officials in the Akufo-Addo government accused of either being engaged in galamsey or interfered in the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.

The Presidency in a rejoinder argued that despite the serious allegations Prof. Frimpong-Boateng made against some government appointees, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated.

Akufo-Addo

It insists that the report was based on hearsay. But Dr. Ato Forson says, government’s action so far is a tacit endorsement of its corrupt appointees.

“It was shrouded in a well-calculated ruse to enable key government officials and functionaries at the Presidency to dabble in the very illicit business of galamsey.”

Meanwhile, the Minority leader is pushing for a full-scale investigation into the revelations.

“The revealing issues and several others in the damning report call for a national probe”, he added.

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