A former Member of Parliament (MP) for Manso Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm, has taken legal action against former Environment Minister, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

This follows some allegations made by the Professor in his 2021 report on illegal mining as Chairman of the now-dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

Among other things, Professor Frimpong-Boateng had alleged that Mr Quarm, who was a member of the Minerals Commission, obtained several large-scale mining concessions in his district.

The report went further to state that the MP “ended up selling these concessions to private individuals, including party members for two hundred thousand Cedis per concession. This infuriated the party in the constituency so during the 2020 primaries to select a candidate, the electorate voted against Mr. Quarm, the sitting MP, who was more resourced than other candidates. Although there were allegations that he “camped” delegates and attempted to bribe them, he lost to a lesser known individual who did not have any financial muscle.”

But denying these claims in a lawsuit sighted by JoyNews, Joseph Albert Quarm said the Professor’s statement did not only have a defamatory meaning but are actually defamatory in nature.

He is arguing that in the immediate aftermath of the publication of the report put together by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, his wife and children were subjected to "worrying concerns and agitation" due to the criticisms they received.

Again, friends and family became panic-stricken and rushed on "the plaintiff with phone calls to demand explanations for those unfortunate words printed about him."

In view of this, he is demanding "damages including special aggravated and exemplary damages for libel contained in the report authored by the defendant herein, and stories therefrom published and republished by many media houses and media platforms assessed at GH₵2.5 million".

Again, Mr. Quarm wants the High Court to place an "injunction restraining the defendant, his servants or agents or otherwise from further publishing or causing to be published any portion of the defendant’s report so long as they relate to the allegations made against the plaintiff; and to further restrain the publication or repetition of the said or similar words of defamatory of the plaintiff through media interviews and other such by the defendant."

Background

In a leaked report authored by former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the renowned surgeon had named some top government officials as engaging in the illegal mining canker, popularly known as ‘galamsey’.

The professor who served under President Akufo-Addo during his first term insisted that the rot goes as high as the seat of government, the Jubilee House.

In the 36-page document addressed to the President, Chief of Staff and the Police, the surgeon also mentioned some individuals he claims frustrated his efforts and that of the committee he chaired from addressing the canker.

“Throughout our struggle with illegalities in the small-scale mining sector, what baffled me was the total disregard of the President’s commitment to protecting the environment.

“I can state without any equivocation that many party officials from the national to the unit committee level had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers, or relatives engaged in illegal mining. Most of them engaged Chinese working for them.

“I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainably as they were instructed to do.

“There are appointees in the Jubilee House that are doing or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace,” excerpts of the document said.

This is the second time someone has sued the heart surgeon him over the claims in the report.

A known member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, was first to sue Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

In his lawsuit for defamation filed at the High Court in Accra on Friday [April 28, 2023], Mr. Otchere-Darko is seeking damages of GH¢10 million from Frimpong-Boateng and a retraction and apology for the allegations made against him.

He argues that Frimpong-Boateng's accusations are a wrongful twist of facts.

According to Professor Frimpong-Boateng, Otchere-Darko defended a company that was actively destroying the environment, despite there being a suspension on the issuance of licenses for operation in forest reserves at the time.

However, Otchere-Darko maintains that he did no wrong in defending the company and was merely seeking information on behalf of his client.

Responding to Otchere-Darko's legal action, Frimpong-Boateng dismissed the claims and accused Otchere-Darko of having a pixelated view of the illegal mining landscape in Ghana.