A Deputy Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Owusu Bempah, says former President John Mahama will say anything to be recognised as he seeks to become flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In Mr. Bempah's view, Mr. Mahama has been making false claims against the current regime and championing a "covert and concerted regime change agenda in all facets of our politics".

He was reacting to Mr. Mahama's comment on the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) report written to the Chief of Staff in March 2021 by former Environment Minister Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

The report implicated a wide number of government officials, most of whom have denied the allegations in the report.

Addressing delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Tanoso in the Western North Region as part of his campaign to lead the party into next year's elections, Mr. Mahama said it is now clear that those involved in illegal mining are top members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“This is not me saying it," he told the partisan crowd on Tuesday, April 25.

"It is Doctor Frimpong-Boateng, their own Minister, saying those who engage in 'galamsey' are NPP’s top officers, some at the Jubilee House.

"So, since NPP came to power our forests – which were reserved – have been allowed to be indiscriminately degraded by the government.”

But in a statement reacting to him, Mr. Bempah said, "As a matter of fact, when Mahama latched onto the Frimpong-Boateng galamsey hogwash, he wasn't just engaging in political point-scoring; rather, he was feeding an agenda he had personally cooked and supervised."