The former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has responded to the Attorney General following the latter's description of his report on illegal mining as hearsay and empty. 

Unruffled by the actions of the AG, the renowned surgeon said the realities of the menace will be evident for all to see soon. 

“I am not at all surprised with that characterization by the Attorney General.”

“We can all close our eyes and trivialize the destruction of the environment and its biodiversity, but the reality of these criminal actions by people who have no conscience and love for the country will be evident in the near future if not soon,” he stated in a press release on Thursday, October 12.

The one-time presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) quizzed the AG on why he waited for him to leave office before issuing his advice. 

“I also believe, like the Attorney General, there are no party people involved in illegal mining; there are no government appointees churning the soils in our forests and farmlands for gold; there are no Chinese engaged in illegal mining. We are to believe that all the documentaries filed by Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor on illegal mining are untrue and fake.”

“I wish the Attorney General would have told Ghanaians why there was no action on my report and waited for more than two years when I have been out of office to now tell Ghanaians that, there is no evidence to prosecute those implicated in the report.”

This comes after the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice said Prof Frimpong-Boateng's allegations in his report on illegal mining activities in the country are empty.

According to the AG, there are also no evidence to prosecute persons named in it.

It follows the conclusion of its review of a docket submitted by the Police on the allegations contained in a 36-page document written by Prof Frimpong Boateng entitled “Report on the work of IMCIM so far and the way forward”.

The A-G’s advice issued on Tuesday, September 12, and delivered to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service on Thursday, September 14, which was signed by a Chief State Attorney, Evelyn Keelson, said it cannot recommend prosecution of any of the persons named in the report.

The Attorney-General has thus asked the police to discharge the persons mentioned except those still under investigation.

But the celebrated surgeon said the action by the AG is not in the interest of the nation.