Frimpong-Boateng's report vindicates our position on Prez Akufo-Addo's lack of commitment to fight galamsey - NDC
According to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), a report on illegal mining authored by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, is proof that the government was not serious about tackling the issue.
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Professor Frimpong-Boateng, who previously chaired the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, accused some members of the Akufo-Addo administration of either interfering in the fight against illegal mining or engaging in the practice.
The Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, claimed at a press conference that illegal mining was likely to have flourished under the Akufo-Addo government.
Gyamfi alleged that the corrupt actions of powerful individuals were behind a complex money laundering scheme, which involved using illegal gold purchases from galamsey operations.
The NDC maintains that President Akufo-Addo's pledge to fight illegal mining was a sham, and that the Frimpong-Boateng report proves that the government and members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) appropriated and took over the illegal mining trade.
"Galamsey was obviously bound to flourish under the corrupt Akufo-Addo-Bawumia regime because it was the central source for illegal gold purchases used in this complex money laundering scheme which has been uncovered by Aljazeera. This scheme is being perpetrated against the state by high powerful forces," he said.
He added, "As we the NDC have always maintained, President Akufo-Addo’s claim of fighting galamsey was the biggest scam ever to be perpetrated on Ghanaians. Today, the NDC stands to be vindicated as a report authored by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has confirmed our long-held opinion.
"There has never been any genuine commitment or attempt to fight galamsey by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government. The said report shows clearly that the so-called fight against galamsey was a charade calculated to enable top government and NPP functionaries to appropriate and take over the elicit galamsey trading".
